Not What it Seems
by IHaveNoIdea8
Summary: Alexandra grew up as the oldest child of the Duke of Kimlasca; life in the manor is all she's ever known. However, is everything really what it seems? Her past becomes more questionable after embarking on a dangerous journey with new comrades, strange dreams come more frequently, and she starts to find herself. Has the Duke been hiding something from her?
1. Of Dreams and Beginnings

_"Daddy?..."_

_The man sat up straighter in his chair, removing his hands from his forehead. He responded to the small girl without looking at her, "It's past midnight, Dearest. Why are you still awake at this hour?"_

_"I had a bad dream... I tried to go back to sleep, but I can't..."_

_They were in a dark room; the only source of light was that of a single candle on top of the desk the young girl's father was sitting at. In the dim lighting of the room all that could be seen was the silhouette of a man sitting at his desk holding an important-looking letter in his hands, and the young girl's small hand, clutching the frame of the doorway. The girl herself remained in the shadows._

_"Daddy?"_

_"Yes, Dearest?" The man sounded stressed._

_"Can I stay with you for a while?"_

_The man sighed, "Alright, but only if you promise to go back to bed shortly."_

_"I will." _

_She stepped out of the shadows engulfing her and into the dim candlelight, approaching her father. Her deep green eyes reflected fear, and yet happiness at the thought of spending time with her father, who spent a lot of time away from the family. Her usually tidy, short, dark red hair was now messy due to the fact she had just gotten out of bed._

_She was oblivious to the tenseness in the air surrounding her father; oblivious to the fact that her father was only ever this tense when something serious was happening._

_With every step the little girl took toward the man she adored more than anyone else, the room seemed to fade._

* * *

Alex woke with a start. Someone was calling her name.

"Miss Alexandra? Please wake up."

A maid was knocking on the door of the girl named Alex's room.

The girl sat bolt upright in her bed, startled by the noise. She rubbed her eyes before stretching her arms and yawning loudly.

She looked out her window through half-closed eyelids and noticed that it was still pretty early in the morning, far earlier than she was used to waking up. Although she was a bit annoyed about being woken up so early, the view was pretty, she was amazed that she normally managed to sleep through the noise the birds outside were making.

"What's going on?" she asked groggily, wanting to know what possible reason her parents had to have her woken up so early. It had to be six in the morning! Alex didn't usually get up until at least nine.

"Master Luke has returned from his absence. His Grace has asked me to inform you. He would like to see you in the audience hall in the castle as soon as possible."

"The audience hall?" Alex asked, still not fully awake, "Why? I'm not supposed to leave the manor."

"I'm merely relaying what His Grace said to me," the maid replied, she didn't sound like she was having a good day.

"Al-alright," Alex said, stifling another yawn, "Thank you, you're dismissed."

She heard the click-clacking of the maid's heels fading away, telling Alex that she had left. The girl groaned and fell backwards on her bed, her head hitting her soft pillow once again. She closed her eyes and pulled her blanket back over her head, attempting to fall asleep again. She had still not fully registered in her tired state what the maid had just told her.

It took a few moments for it to finally sink in, and once it did, she shot out of her bed, blankets flying through the air along with the nightgown that she had pulled off and tossed to the side in a rush.

She hurriedly brushed her messy shoulder-length, dark red hair that was layered in a fashion that it almost covered her right eye, and then pulled on her black pants and light violet shirt with a high neckline that slanted at the bottom. One of its sleeves was down to her elbow, and the other ended at her shoulder. She threw on her blue belt over the shirt and buttoned it up at her side, and then slipped her feet into her simple, button-up black boots and headed out the door, pulling on her deep violet gloves that buttoned up at her elbows as she went.

Her cousin, Princess Natalia, and her father didn't think her clothes were ideal for the image of the royal family, but no matter how many times they had told her she should go back to wearing the old frilly dresses, Alex preferred these clothes. They were more comfortable than the dresses she had worn until the age of fourteen, and they were definitely more ideal for day-to-day life. There was still the occasion where she would still wear a dress or at least a long skirt with a blouse when they were expecting important guests, but Alex didn't like anything too frivolous, and preferred to be comfortable rather than praised for pretty clothes by people she didn't know or care about.

She was thankful her mother stopped her father from forcing dresses on her when she was obviously uncomfortable wearing them after she had discovered just how comfortable regular clothes were. Her father still demanded that she at least wore something elegant when guests were around, and considering Alex was able to get away with wearing casual clothes any other time, she didn't argue.

She was nineteen years old ,and could never remember the first four years of her life. She didn't care too much about the loss of memories, since most people didn't have many clear memories of that time in their life anyway, but it was the cause of the memory loss that had her curious about it.

She was told it was because she had somehow managed to get out of the manor, and had been physically and mentally traumatized by some men at that age, simply because they didn't agree with what her father was doing in Hod. The doctor the Duke had hired for her had explained that her memory was lost due to the trauma.

Quite frankly, the whole thing sounded a bit strange to her, and more like an excuse than the truth. Her suspicions had been strengthened whenever the Duke had told her to drop it and refused to speak about it whenever she brought it up, but she had shrugged it off. It was only the first four years of her life anyway; it wasn't like they could be that important. Not like her brother, who lost all his memories at the age of ten. And he hadn't been able to even remember his name, or how to walk, or speak, or anything that was considered common knowledge, whereas Alex had. She'd gotten off easy compared to him.

Nevertheless, the incidents leading to their memory losses, particularly Luke's, had resulted in a strict confinement inside the manor.

The manor had been peaceful since Luke disappeared over a month ago...to an extent. Their parents and the maids were all panicking, and their mother, who was already sickly, had grown even more frail. But Alex's lifestyle was suddenly so peaceful it was boring. Mostly because Guy, her only real friend inside the manor other than Luke and Natalia, left to go looking for him. At least Natalia had been visiting her for the time they had been gone, but those visits tended to be more dreaded than anything else, seeing as all Natalia could talk about was how worried about Luke she was - and when she wasn't talking about that, she was talking about her upcoming marriage to him. Alex spent most of those conversations zoning out and watching Pere tend to the gardens outside instead. She enjoyed looking at the flowers, they brought her peace.

More than once she had considered asking him if he could teach her how to tend to the flowers, but she knew her father would probably disown her or something if she did, so she settled for watching him do the gardening instead. She was already pushing her luck with her father with the casual clothes and the sword training, which he had also been against for a long time.

She hadn't even been able to train in a long while either, since Commandant Grants was away looking for Luke as well, so she really had nothing to do. The whole time Luke was gone she had pondered how he had literally disappeared with the woman who had attempted to kill the Commandant. He had even told them later when her parents were asking for answers that her name was Tear, and that she was his sister.

This only worried Alex more about her brother's safety.

If the woman was about to kill her own brother, who was to say she wouldn't kill Luke? Shortly after they got their information, Guy was sent to go find Luke. Alex had really missed them, even though Luke was sometimes a pain in the ass. The weeks passed and she had begun to worry that something might have happened to them.

She picked up her pace as she left the manor and headed to the castle; two White Knights close behind her for protection, just in case somebody decided to attack her during the two-minute walk from the manor to the castle. She entered the castle and walked quickly up the stairs, the guards outside the audience hall letting her by without questioning her.

As she approached the door of the audience hall, she started to hear familiar voices.

"It has already been decided that he will be taking Guy with him."

"I already said I don't care who comes as long as Master Van is with me," came the voice of her brother, "Can I please leave now? I'm bored..."

Alex wondered what they were talking about, she and Luke hadn't been allowed to leave the manor for years, why would they suddenly allow him to leave Baticul now?

When she finally opened the door, she was greeted by both familiar and unfamiliar faces. She saw her father, her uncle, Luke, Guy, Natalia, the woman she recognized as Tear, as well as a feminine looking boy with green hair, a young girl with pigtails and a doll hanging from her back, a tall, middle-aged military man with long hair, glasses, and intimidating red eyes, and most strangely, what she recognized as an aqua-blue cheagle floating beside Luke, an over-sized ring around its belly.

"Alexandra," said her father as he noticed her enter the room, "You're finally here. I'm sure you heard that Luke has returned?"

"Well, yeah..." she replied, raising an eyebrow at her father, "From the maid you sent to inform me."

Her father dismissed this remark and continued with what he was saying.

"There is trouble in a mining town in Malkuth by the name of Akzeriuth. We are sending your brother and Guy as well as these others to remedy the issue. We thought you should know about it before they left, and you will not be going with them."

"So..." she started, wondering why her father would even bother to tell her if she wasn't allowed to go, "You called me in here to tell me that my only friends in this place are leaving and I can't go with them?"

"I preferred you hear it ahead of time, so you would not hear it from them and bug me about accompanying them later on."

Before Alex could reply, Natalia started up.

"I agree with Alex. I really think it would be a good idea if she and I went along as representatives as well!"

"We've discussed this, Natalia," King Ingobert sighed, "The two of you will be staying in Baticul."

Natalia turned her head away from her father; she did not look impressed with his words. After a while the frown on her face turned into a small smirk, something that would rarely ever show up on Princess Natalia's face.

Alex and Luke appeared to have been a bit of a bad influence on her.

The group started to discuss plans on how they would get to Akzeriuth, Alex not really paying attention to any of it; the information was useless to her. She was wondering all the while why she was still even there. During the conversation, Alex picked up the names of the people she hadn't met before: Fon Master Ion, his guardian Anise, and Colonel Jade Curtiss.

After the plans were set, they all headed to the manor. Natalia joined them, saying that she wanted to speak with Luke, as well as make sure their mother was alright. Ion had insisted that he, Anise, and Jade go along as well, as he wanted to see the manor where Luke grew up with his own eyes.

"Thank you for escorting my brother back to Baticul," Alex said as they made their way to the manor, she felt the need to say _something _to end the occasional stares the others gave her and Natalia. They weren't a part of their group, they were probably confused about their sudden presence.

"It's the least I could do for causing the trouble in the first place," Tear stated.

"Yes, don't mention it," the colonel said, pushing his glasses up his nose, "It was certainly a...memorable experience."

"I don't doubt that," Alex laughed as she looked back at her brother, who was currently in the middle of an argument with Natalia while Anise, who had her arms wrapped around Luke's midsection, watched and glared openly at the princess.

"Luke!" Natalia was shouting, gaining everyone's attention, "Please tell that girl that we are _engaged_!"

"It's not like I _want_ her clinging to me like this!"

The two continued to shout at each other, while Anise, whose arms were still wrapped around Luke, smirked at Natalia and looked thoroughly like she was enjoying the display.

"What kind of attitude is that?!" Natalia demanded, after Luke muttered a comment about how he may have been better off outside of Baticul without any nagging, "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Guy jumped in to try and save Luke from being yelled at any further, "Luke's probably just embarrassed, Your Highness."

Natalia glared at him, "You have some explaining to do as well, Guy! Did I not tell you to inform me before you joined the search for Luke? Why did you leave without speaking to me?"

Guy scratched the back of his head, "Well, you know servants like me can't get into the castle..."

"He asked me to tell you for him," Alex chimed in, before Natalia could bite Guy's head off instead. Her comment was completely ignored.

Natalia advanced toward Guy, who backed away immediately in a classic display of his well-known female phobia. "Why are you backing away?"

"You know why!" Guy replied, and Alex had to resist the urge to point out how obvious the answer to Natalia's question was.

"Once Luke and I are married, you will become my servant as well," Natalia said simple, crossing her arms, "Get over it."

"To be fair, Your Highness," Guy started, shaking as Natalia continued to advance on him, "I am Alex's servant, too, and I'm able to serve her without her coming too close to me..."

"You're so strange," Natalia shook her head, "Look how pathetic you are, cowering like that because of a girl, I don't know what the maids see in you."

Alex sighed, "Anyway, I haven't formally introduced myself to you yet," she made a polite bow, "I'm Alexandra fon Fabre, Luke's older sister. But please, just call me Alex."

"Strange," Jade remarked, "You've grown up in the same environment as Luke, yet you seem...I'll settle with the word 'normal'."

"Hey!"

"Luke changed after his memory loss. We tried to raise him into more or less how he had been before...but he was never the same, probably because he's not allowed to leave the manor and he's very limited with everything compared to before the kidnapping," Alex admitted, "We hope his memories will come back soon, before he comes of age."

Jade nodded, and did not make a response.

"At any rate," the Fon Master spoke, holding out his hand for Alex to shake, "I'm Fon Master Ion, he's Colonel Jade Curtiss, this is Tear, and the young girl attached to your brother right now is my guardian, Anise. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine, Fon Master."

"Please, just Ion will do."

"I actually have a couple questions about how Luke was raised," Tear asked, "Since the kidnapping I mean. He seemed very sheltered while we were traveling, and it at a first appearance it doesn't seem you were raised the same way."

"We were both confined to the manor after the kidnapping, Luke's just had more on his plate, with his memory loss and all. I could focus more on my studies, and lessons on etiquette," she shuddered at the memories of those stupid lessons, they basically just taught her not to show guests like these her true colors, "While Luke had to spend more time on things like remembering how to walk and speak our language."

"I am right here, you know!"

Natalia clapped her hands together, getting everyone's attention before turning to Luke, "Oh, that's right! I forgot to ask, did you hear what happened to Van?"

Luke and Tear both looked more interested than they had since their return.

"What?" Luke asked, "What about Master Van?!"

"Our father's suspect Van of being behind your disappearance," Natalia explained, and this was news to Alex as well. Last she heard, they were just suspecting Tear.

"Tell me what's gonna happen to Master Van!"

"Van will likely be arrested as soon as he reaches Baticul," Jade explained, "Worst case, I presume he will be executed."

"That can't happen!" Luke shouted, "Master Van's innocent."

"The Commandant's in danger?" Anise asked, turning to Ion, who nodded at her.

"Yes, we must issue a formal protest from Daath at once!"

"Natalia!" Luke grabbed the princess by her shoulders, "You have to talk to Uncle and tell him Master Van wasn't involved! You've got to save him!"

Natalia sighed, "All right. I can't turn down a request from you, Luke." She removed his hands from her shoulders and held them, "But in return, I want you to hurry up and remember that promise you made to me."

Luke groaned and pulled his hands away from her, "I already told you, I don't remember proposing to you as a kid!"

"Yes, I know that. But how romantic would it be if the first thing you remembered was your proposal to me?"

"_Natalia_!"

Natalia sighed, "Yes, all right. I'll go speak to Father."

She bid them farewell (though she was mostly just speaking to Luke) and returned to the castle while the others continued to the manor.

Once they arrived in the manor and Jade, Ion, and Anise all made their leave, Guy suggested to Tear that she apologize to Suzanne for Luke's disappearance, as she had become more ill since his disappearance. Tear seemed sincere in her feelings of guilt and regret for getting Luke dragged into the mess, and decided Guy was right.

Tear, Luke, and the cheagle (who had introduced itself to Alex as Mieu, which had shocked her because she hadn't known that the ring around its belly allowed it to speak the human language) left so Tear could go apologize, leaving Guy and Alex alone. Alex was quite surprised by how kind Tear seemed, she was completely different from what she had seen over a month earlier, though she did still seem slightly cold toward Luke at times. Not that Alex could blame her for being irritated by him.

"Sorry about leaving you behind again," said Guy, scratching the back of his head and smiling nervously.

Alex raised an eyebrow at him, "Why would _you_ be sorry? It's not your fault."

"I guess not," he said, relaxing, "I just sort of feel guilty about leaving you alone again... I can only imagine how bored you must have been here by yourself."

"You have no idea…" Alex sighed, thinking about the many Luke-based conversations with Natalia she had endured.

"You're not planning on sneaking out are you?" Guy asked suddenly, looking a bit more serious.

A mischievous smile spread across her face, "I didn't plan to..." she placed a finger on her chin, "But you know..."

"Don't even think about it!" Guy said, his eyes narrowed.

"I'm not being serious!" she laughed, "I promise."

Guy relaxed again, not knowing she was actually considering it. But how would she get out of the manor unnoticed?

"Shouldn't you be getting ready?" Alex asked, looking up at him; she was about a head shorter than Guy. When he nodded, she added, "I don't know if I'll be up in time to see you off tomorrow; Father probably won't want me up so I won't be tempted to go with you…so I guess I'll see you later."

She opened her arms for a hug then laughed at the look of terror on his face as he instantly backed away ten feet.

"I'm joking!" she smiled, lowering her arms, "I know well enough that you're afraid of women."

"Then stop doing that!" he yelled from across the room, still scared.

* * *

Later that night, Alex woke to the sound of her door closing. She jumped right out of her bed, grabbing her sword off of her bedside table, ready to give the intruder a piece of her mind when the person spoke. Alex recognized the voice immediately and relaxed.

"You wish to go to Akzeriuth as well, do you not?"

Alex smiled, unseen by Natalia in the darkness of her room, and got ready to hear whatever plan the princess had in mind.

* * *

**_A/N: I do not own Tales of the Abyss._**


	2. Broken Promise

**_A/N: The_**

**_…_**

**_separating the page means a change in the point of view. This story will be told in all character's points of view, not just Alex's. The first few will mostly be Guy or Alex POVs though, then at chapter 10 the POVs will have more variety.  
_**

* * *

_Chapter 2: Broken Promise_

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Natalia and Alex had been waiting in the old abandoned factory outside of Baticul for the past two hours. They had left their respective homes before dawn, so they had a better chance of leaving without being caught. Natalia had had to climb out of the castle's windows and hide in the bushes as she made her way into the downtown area, where the guards wouldn't recognize her. Alex had scaled one of the walls closing off the manor so she could leave. Alex was seriously thankful now that she wore such casual clothing, as no one had recognized her because of it. She still had to wear a hood over her hair so she wouldn't be recognized, since the red would probably be a giveaway.

Natalia had a couple close calls because her clothes were a little more extravagant, but still normal compared to the dresses she usually wore. Her golden hair also helped her not to be recognized as a member of the royal family, as no one actually knew what she looked like, and she was the only one in the family who didn't have red hair. She even chose not to style her hair as extravagantly as she normally did, which made sense, but still came as a shock to Alex when they met up in the almost-empty streets of Baticul in the early morning.

The two of them stood a little ways away from the air cart that had taken them from the city into the dingy factory, hidden in the shadows and hoping that Luke and the others would arrive soon, mostly because they were quite sick of the horrible smell of oil and grease, and also because they could hardly see anything, and the scuffling noises around them were really starting to freak them out a bit. Alex couldn't wait to get out of there. They had only been in there for a half an hour and she already longed for some fresh air.

"I am quite positive this is going to work, Alex," Natalia said impatiently, her eyes trained on the air cart station in case the others appeared. Alex had probably asked the same question about five times already, "They have no choice but to come this way; it's too dangerous for them to go by boat, and I heard someone say the God-General Sync was stationed outside the city."

Alex was nervous, to say the least; she didn't know how Guy and Luke were going to react. Luke was at least more predictable; he'd be annoyed and complain, simple as that. But even after knowing Guy for ten years, she had no idea how he was going to react. She did know, however, that what he said and what he thought about it were two completely different things considering he was a servant at the manor, and therefore had to be pleasant to them, despite the fact that Alex had repeatedly told him to treat her like a normal person – they had become friends over the years in the manor, and it was awkward for her to think of him as a servant. Eventually, he had come to treat both Alex and Luke like ordinary people like they wanted, but he still had to treat them like he was their servant, especially whenever the Duke or Ramdas found them with him.

"That's great and all... But what makes you think they'll _let_ us come along? Guy will be upset, seeing as I promised him I wouldn't sneak out of the manor. Luke will think we're being a pain... And that Malkuth Colonel doesn't look like he would be very patient with us; he probably doesn't know or care that we've both had training."

Although her father had not approved of her training at first, Alex had started self-training in secret. When Guy found out, he got Pere to train her a little bit, since he had trained Guy. And then when Luke found out, he, being bored and having nothing better to do, told their father. The Duke was upset, but decided that if she was just going to train whether he liked it or not, she had better train under Van with her brother. In the end, Alex wound up with a rather...unique fighting style, somewhere in between Guy and Luke's, with her own strange way of executing attacks.

Some of the maids who had seen her in action when training with Luke had said she had a more graceful, almost dance-like way of fighting, what they would expect from a woman of her class. Alex didn't know if they were being serious, or if they were being nice because they had to be. Either way, Alex still thought her fighting style was somewhat awkward.

Natalia had had an easier time convincing her own father to allow her to train, since she sometimes visited the frontlines to boost soldiers' morale. There was always the chance she could get hurt, so she would have needed the ability to protect herself if the soldiers, for some reason, couldn't.

Natalia nodded, not taking her eyes off of the air car, "We can convince them. I am a healer as well as an accomplished archer; they would be fools not to take us with them."

"Yeah, well, I hope you have good enough blackmail to use on Luke."

Natalia crossed her arms, "Well! As a princess, I would never-"

Alex rolled her eyes, "Natalia, please. We both know there would be no other way for us to convince him to let us join-"

The two bickering girls suddenly became quiet as the air cart suddenly roared into motion. It went back into the city before returning a few minutes later with a group of people.

"The fact that the cart was down here concerns me," one of them said, the deeper, male voice told Alex it was probably the Malkuth Colonel. If it was the right people, anyway. "Somebody may be here waiting to ambush us. Be on the lookout. If you see any sign of movement, be ready to attack."

Through the darkness in the factory, Alex could barely see them, but she knew from the complaints of the smell from Luke that it was them. Since the place was lined with pipes everywhere, their footsteps were very audible, and they were walking away from where she and Natalia were hidden. The two of them were caught between a rock and a hard place; if they moved and let the group know they were there, they risked being attacked, but if they just stood there, the group would leave before they could convince them to let the girls join.

Natalia tugged on Alex's arm before stepping out of their hiding place, and the echoing footsteps her heels caused alerted the group of her presence. Alex could tell by the cease in the group's footsteps that they had frozen, and she heard the tell-tale sound of two people unsheathing their swords.

Alex sighed, a little annoyed with her cousin. She thought the group had made it very obvious they would attack anything out of the ordinary. Alex had remained hidden, not wanting to be attacked, but as she heard one of the group members running toward where Natalia stood, she sighed and unsheathed her own sword, assuming it was either Guy or Luke, and ran to intercept the attack before whoever it was could hurt Natalia.

She had just moved in front of Natalia in time to cross blades with the person, and because of how close they were, Alex could finally see who it was.

His blue eyes widened in shock and he jumped back a few feet as soon as he recognized who it was, just as the other members of the group reached the three of them.

"Alex?" Guy asked, "Princess Natalia? Wh-what are you two doing here?"

Luke groaned louder than Alex had ever heard him, and she didn't think that was even possible.

"Waiting for you, of course," Natalia replied, stepping from behind Alex, taking the spot next to her with her arms crossed.

Alex, Guy, and Luke all sheathed their swords, and the others put away their weapons as well. Alex watched in awe as Anise shrank her doll, which had seconds earlier been twice the size of the average adult, and had Anise perched on top of it, controlling its movements somehow. She made a mental note to ask her how she did that once they were better acquainted.

Alex scanned the looks on everyone's faces for reactions, though it was a little difficult, considering the horrible lighting. Guy was visibly upset about Alex breaking her promise to him. Alex felt that she'd rather the ground below her, or rather pipes, swallow her whole than have him look at her with that disappointed expression. Luke looked completely annoyed, as did Anise, as she was tapping her foot impatiently, and Tear looked slightly annoyed as well. The colonel's expression was unreadable, and the cheagle didn't seem annoyed at all, in fact, it seemed to be thrilled at the chance befriend new people.

Alex wondered if it was possible for him to be anything but cheerful. After doing a quick second scan of the group, Alex noticed that the Fon Master wasn't with them. Why would his guardian be with them then? Did something happen to him?

"Man, what a pain."

The corner of Alex's mouth was tugged into a small smile, and she looked down at her feet to hide it from the others. Part of her wanted to tell Natalia she told her so, but the other part knew it wasn't a good time.

…

Guy Cecil was normally a very patient person. He only ever showed any signs of being upset in really serious situations, and in his opinion, this was serious enough to get upset about.

Princess Natalia and Alex stood before him and the rest of the group.

After Alex had promised him she wouldn't sneak out of the manor.

He would be lying, of course, if he said he wasn't expecting this in some way, but that didn't make him any happier about the situation. After hearing Luke's groan and the others' sighs, he knew they were just as unimpressed as he was.

Alex was avoiding his gaze, and was staring down at her feet; she was obviously guilty about breaking her promise to him. Guy had a feeling that sneaking out was actually Princess Natalia's idea, as she had seemed the most upset about having to stay behind the day before, but Alex had still gone along with it, probably without hesitation. As he finally looked away from Alex, he noticed that Luke and Natalia were yelling at each other. How he hadn't heard them before with the way their voices echoed throughout the factory, he didn't know.

"No way!" Luke was shouting, his fists clenched at his sides, "You guys aren't coming along! _I'm_ the ambassador and _I_ make the decisions! So I'm deciding that you two have to go back to the castle," he crossed his arms and turned away from them, as if his word was law, "You won't be able to handle real monsters anyway," he added smugly.

Natalia opened her mouth to retort, but Alex's head snapped up in Luke's direction and she beat her to it.

"If you can handle these monsters, then we can too. I'm just as capable as you are in battle and you know it!" Luke was turning red with anger and embarrassment; it was now hard to tell where his face ended and his hair began. "Besides," Alex continued while gesturing to the princess beside her, "Natalia's a healer, she could be really helpful." It seemed like she only said that so the fiery blonde woman didn't get angry at her for not helping her case as well.

Luke turned back toward them, "Tear's a healer," he said simply while gesturing to Tear, who didn't look at all happy about being dragged into the argument.

"Did you ever think that it might be nice to have more than one?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't care! You guys aren't coming, and that's final!" he crossed his arms again and closed his eyes, holding his head high in the air. "Besides, you may end up fighting people too, you know, not just monsters." Guy didn't miss the looks of shock on the girls' faces at Luke's words. There was a pregnant pause amongst the group.

"Three years ago," Natalia started, regaining her composure, "At the battle in northern Chesedonia, I paid a visit to encourage the troops. I'm prepared for battle."

"Raising morale and actually fighting are two different things," Anise said with a raised eyebrow, "You're probably better off staying behind."

"With all due respect," Tear said, "I'm afraid I have to agree."

"Your Highness," Guy started, a little nervous about how she'd take it, "I think it would be best if the two of you returned to the castle..."

Alex looked like she was about to protest, but Natalia started up instead, losing all traces of her usual composed self and losing herself in anger.

"Silence!" she ordered, her voice echoing through the factory. Guy flinched and backed away from her a little more, really not liking the demonic look on her face, "I am a master of Lanvaldear-style archery! And a studied healer as Alex said. Alex has been trained as well. We'll certainly be more useful than that empty-headed Oracle Knight, and that uncivil one!" she said, pointing at Tear and Anise while Alex groaned and covered her forehead beside her, shaking her head as she did so.

"Anybody else think I should rip daddy's little girl a new hole?" Anise asked, glaring at Natalia, who looked appalled at the young girl's words. Guy did wonder where a thirteen-year-old girl learned to speak like that.

"How vulgar!" Natalia replied, returning Anise's glare, "You demonstrate your lack of refinement!"

Tear turned away from the scene with a small scowl on her face, "This is some princess..."

"Well now," Jade said with an amused smirk on his face, "This is getting fun."

"...This is why women scare me," Guy said quietly, shrinking away from the others a little more.

"Look, whatever," Luke said to the two girls, waving an arm dismissively at them, "Just don't follow us!"

There was another pause as Luke started to walk away.

"I'll tell them about _you-know-what_," Natalia taunted, having turned her attention from Anise to Luke's retreating back.

Luke stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, his expression changed from anger to a mix of panic and confusion in a split second.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I mean. What you and Commandant Grants were talk-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Luke was pulling her away from the rest of the group. They argued quietly about something as the others watched them, then returned a few moments later, Natalia looked pleased, while Luke was a little annoyed. Guy already knew what Luke was going to say before he said it, and he suddenly wished Luke wasn't so easy to blackmail, since that was clearly what Princess Natalia had done.

It was known fact for everyone who knew her: What Princess Natalia wanted, Princess Natalia got.

"I've decided that it would be best if Natalia and Alex joined us."

"You're too easy, Luke," Tear said, as if she had read Guy's mind.

"Fine," Anise started, looking a little annoyed that the girls had gotten their way. She was still glaring at Natalia, "Now that that waste of time is over, can we _please_ start searching for Ion? I'm worried about him."

"I agree," Jade said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "The faster we get out of here, the better."

The rest of the group agreed silently, and then started toward their destination.

"I'm sorry about this," Alex apologized, Guy turned to see her smiling at him nervously.

"It's alright," He replied, "What's done is done." He was only half lying to her, he wasn't really upset any more, he knew they were strong enough to defend themselves from some monsters, and there would be others, including himself, to help them out if they needed.

He was only really upset about Alex breaking her promise, and he was worried about how she would take it if she was forced into a situation where she had to kill a person, especially since he knew how Luke had handled it. But when he thought about it, it might actually be fun to have her and Natalia around. He could only handle Luke alone for so long, and it was always entertaining when Luke was being pestered by the princess until he was brought into it.

It had taken some time to get Princess Natalia into the mindset that no one in the group should have to cater to her needs, but after Jade talked to her, she caught on pretty quickly. She had cast aside her status as Princess, so all she had to do was get used to everyone treating her normally.

It took quite a while for them to get around in the factory, due to how dark it was. They had used Mieu's fire breathing abilities to ignite barrels full of oil so they could see, and even when they could see they had to move slowly to avoid falling to their deaths, and slipping on small oil spills.

After a while, most of the others had finished coping with the sudden appearance of new group members, despite how Jade had originally said it would be best to keep the group as small as possible. Only Luke was left complaining, adding a thick air of irritation and awkwardness around the group. Princess Natalia was the only one with the gall to talk back to him, or rather, she was the only one with the patience to.

They'd also had some problems with pests. The factory was infested with bats, rats, and spiders. The spiders Alex especially had a problem with. Quite a few of them were small and relatively harmless - those ones no one really cared about - though a few of them were quite large; they'd probably had some sort of reaction to the spills in the factory.

Alex wasn't terrified of spiders, but Guy knew they creeped her out, _"It's the way they move!" _she'd always say, as he was the one who usually had to kill them back in the manor, since Luke couldn't be bothered to do so. He was sure Alex was mostly freaked out by the spiders' sizes, but after running into three or four of them she stopped freezing around them. Natalia had the upper hand with them, since Guy knew she wasn't a fan of spiders either, but since Natalia used long-ranged attacks and focused more on healing, she didn't have as much trouble fighting them.

After a few battles Jade realized that Alex and Natalia didn't have any capacity cores on them, and the group stopped for a few moments as he handed one to each of them, explaining that they would enhance their abilities in battle. Natalia decided to wear hers as a broach, and Alex attached hers to her belt, saying she would have to get a chain or some string to wear it as a necklace later on, since it wouldn't fall off as easily that way. They both thanked Jade before setting out again.

After a couple hours of fighting their way through the factory – everyone was pleasantly surprised at how well both Natalia and Alex had handled themselves against the monsters in there, but there would still be the problem of fighting people – they finally reached the exit, which was basically a huge hole in the side of the factory.

Anise cheered when they got off the air cart that had brought them to the platform and started in the direction of the hole before they heard an odd, rather loud, scuffling sound from above.

Anise stopped immediately, moving back to the rest of the group as they all looked up, trying to find whatever made the noise.

"Oh! What's that?" Natalia asked as she approached a small, shining puddle of what appeared to be slime. The scuffling sound came once more, and before Natalia could reach the slime, Tear dragged her back to the group, just when a monstrous, slime coated figure jumped down from above, right where Natalia had been standing.

"Well, now," Jade said as the giant, slime-covered, creature loomed over them, standing between the group and the exit, "This should be fun."

"What the hell is that thing?!" Luke demanded as it lifted the front two what could only be described as legs and swiped in Natalia's direction.

Tear pushed her out of the way before the creature could connect with her, and jumped out of the way herself to avoid it. Natalia quickly got to her feet and readied an arrow while maintaining a safe distance from the creature.

"Piercing Line!" she shouted as she shot the arrow toward what they all thought to be its head.

It did absolutely no damage, the thick layer of slime coating it's body acted as a shield, and the arrow only ended up getting slowly sucked into it like quicksand.

"Uh, I think you'll just be casting support artes, Natalia," Alex said as Natalia nodded, starting to cast.

Luke, in the meantime, had pulled out his sword and charged at the monster, jumping in the air and bringing his sword down on one of the legs. Once again, it wound up doing nothing, and his sword only ended up stuck in the slime. Luke fought to get her sword back, but to avail. After Tear yelled at him, he let go of the sword and retreated.

"That leaves us pretty useless," Guy said, "We have to do something about that slime, or we're done."

"Do you think it's flammable?" Tear asked Jade, who shrugged.

"It's quite possible, but unfortunately the fon slot seal Largo placed on me is still in effect. I'm unable to use any artes based on the fifth fonon at the moment."

Their little conversation was interrupted by the creature launching itself into the air and coming down right above them. They all jumped out of the way just in time, they had to avoid touching the slime themselves, unless they wanted end up stuck, like their weapons. Then they'd be screwed.

"The colonel and me will have to start casting then!" Anise told everyone, as Natalia continued to cast barrier on everyone in the group. "Hopefully it'll actually do something."

"Distract it in the meantime," Jade added, while Alex, Tear, and Guy nodded. Luke was left useless once he lost his sword.

They tried their best to distract it without having to actually go near it, so they were more or less left running circles around it in hopes that it would get confused. Tear occasionally threw one of her knives at it to keep it focused on them.

_"Negative Gate!" _Anise shouted at the same time Jade shouted _"Energy Blast!" __  
_

A violet vortex engulfed the creature, cutting at it multiple times while a green ball of light built up around the center of the beast and exploded, causing the beast to rear and attempt to shake the attacks off. The attacks together seemed to cause very little damage, but everyone noticed that some of the slime covering its back had receded, most likely due to its attempts to rid itself of the attacks.

"Hey!" Luke cried, "It worked!"

"Hardly," Jade told him, "If we were to repeat that action over and over to rid that monster of its protective coat, Anise and I would both be exhausted."

"Not to mention it would take forever," Anise added before preparing another arte.

Mieu started jumping up and down on Luke's shoulder, "Mieu! What about me? I can breathe fire!"

"That's true," Natalia said, after trying to hit the exposed part of the monster's body with an arrow, only to find that there was some sort of exoskeleton covering it. They would have to try and get rid of all the slime before they could find a weakness.

"It's too dangerous for Mieu!" Tear said loudly, she, Alex, and Guy were all still trying to distract the beast.

"Can you all just hurry up and think of _something_?" Alex asked, "We won't be able to keep this up forever!"

"She's right," Guy added, he was already growing exhausted and all he had done was try to distract the thing. Had hadn't had to attack yet.

"Luke, get Mieu to use the fifth fonon when the monster isn't looking!" Jade ordered. "There's a chance that slime is made up of oil, it's quite possible it's flammable."

Luke didn't look too pleased about being ordered around, but he still grabbed Mieu by the head and prepared to charge at the monster again when it wasn't looking. Alex and Guy started to lead the beast away from Luke so he could sneak up on it from behind.

When it was facing away from Luke, he immediately ran forward, holding Mieu out in front of him as the Cheagle blew fire in the beast's direction.

Immediately when the fire made contact with the slime, the entire thing burst into flame. Alex, Luke, and Guy all jumped back as far as possible so they wouldn't be burned.

Everyone stopped what they were doing while they waited for the fire to burn out. They hoped it was the end.

As the fire died down, they all realized what was inside wasn't dead yet. The spider that emerged from the flames put all the other ones they'd seen to shame. It was twitching slightly, and appeared to be affected greatly by the fire, but it was still able to fight. And even worse, it was furious.

At least finally Guy would be able to do something with his sword, he was tired of not being able to do anything. Luke seemed to have the same idea, as he hurriedly ran to grab his sword, which had fallen to the ground away from the spider once the slime was gone.

Alex, on the other hand, did not seem as restless. She had been getting used to the spiders, but apparently seeing one as big as this one was too shocking for her. Natalia seemed to be having similar problems as well.

"It looks like it's belly is its weak spot," Tear said loudly, snapping both Alex and Natalia out of their reservoirs, the spider was still shaking its entire body to rid itself of any small flames that were still on it, causing dust and debris to fall from above, and the ground below them to shake. They needed to end this soon or the entire area could possible collapse.

Natalia immediately began to shoot arrows at the spider's underside, while Alex, Luke, and Guy attempted to go for its legs to see if they could stop it from moving. The legs didn't appear to be as heavily armored as the back.

The arrows it was receiving only angered it more, however, and small flaps around the belly opened up, unleashing thousands of smaller spiders that ran in every direction, heading toward each group member.

Tear sang a Fonic Hymn that allowed a barrier to form around herself, Anise, Jade, and Natalia, preventing the small spiders from getting to them. Instead they all passed them and went Yulia knows where into the factory. Meanwhile Luke, Alex, and Guy were all left to try and fight off the spiders, as some of them attacked them while other merely passed by. They were paying no attention to the biggest spider.

Thankfully, the others were, Natalia continued to shoot arrows while the three swordsmen were preoccupied, Anise cast another Negative Gate, and Jade another Energy Blast.

Tear began singing another Fonic Hymn, the one Guy recognized as the one she sang when she attempted to kill Van in the manor, just as the smaller spiders were all either dead or gone. The familiar violet bubbles appeared from below the spider, and immediately the beast began to grow drowsy. Luke took the chance to charge in and thrust his sword deep into the spider's belly, using the new arte he had learned only a couple weeks previous: Sonic Thrust.

Guy had to grab Luke by the collar and pull him back before the spider collapsed on top of him, both of them falling to the ground in exhaustion once the battle was done.

"Wh-what was that thing?" Alex asked once its body crumpled. Everyone was breathing hard, and no one was putting their weapons away just yet.

"It's not one I've seen around here before," Guy said between breaths, too tired to get up yet, "The inside looked like a spider."

"Well, it's hardly surprising that an abandoned factory would have a few spiders, but..." Tear trailed off.

"The oil it was feeding on may have caused a mutation due to fonon activity," Jade explained.

Natalia nervously turned toward Tear, playing with her hands, "Tear?..."

"Yes?"

"Thank you," Natalia said, "You saved me. I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you and everybody."

Tear, along with everyone else, seemed genuinely shocked by Natalia's words. After getting over the shock, Tear looked at her kindly. "It's all right."

"No it's not!" Luke interjected loudly as he got up, "Don't drag us down!"

Tear merely gave him a deadpan look while Natalia looked down at her feet.

"I'm a little concerned about there being more of these around," Jade said, changing the subject, "If there are more..."

"Who cares?" Luke asked, "We won, it lost, we're done. We won't have to worry about anymore of them if we leave now!"

Alex sighed, "I hate to say it, but I agree with Luke. Let's get out of here."

When they had made sure that the mutant spider was dead, they all approached the hole. Guy noticed Alex was keeping her eyes on the spider's crumpled body, as if she expected it to stand up once more.

Once they were right in front of the hole, they noticed that there was a ladder hanging from it, leading about fifty feet down to the ground.

"So we should be able to get outside from here," Luke pointed out.

"And it's on to Chesedonia from there?" Alex asked.

"Yep!" Mieu said happily, bouncing up and down on the spot.

"Chesedonia lies across the desert," Tear said, "There's an oasis midway, so we'll stop there to rest."

Natalia turned to face Guy, "Guy, you go down first. Catch me if I slip."

Guy sighed and nervously started scratching the back of his head, he really disliked when she tried to corner him into doing things like this, "You're telling me to do that knowing full well that I can't, right?"

"I need you to get over your phobia, or we'll have problems once Luke and I are married."

Alex rolled her eyes, "Shouldn't you start out with getting him to do smaller favors that could lead to him getting over his phobia, instead of one that could lead to you both falling to your possible deaths?"

Natalia looked at her with wide eyes before thinking about it, "Hmm, you may be right..."

"Why don't you get your fiance to go down before you," Alex told her, nodding in Luke's direction, "I'm sure he'd be _happy _to catch you if you started to fall."

"Yes, that's true," Natalia started before turning to Luke, opening her mouth to speak.

Anise, however, started up, jumping forward and wrapping her arms around Luke's waist, much to the redhead's confusion, "Luke prefers much _younger_, cuter girls, don't you, Luke?"

Luke tried hard to push Anise away from him while Natalia glared at them.

"Thanks," Guy whispered to Alex, happy that she had so easily been able to change Natalia's mind.

"Don't worry about it," she replied, "It'd be no fun if somebody got hurt this early on."

"We're not doing this for fun, you know," Jade butted into the conversation, adjusting his glasses as Guy mentally noted that it was a miracle they had gotten out of that fight relatively unscathed. Only their clothes really took much damage.

"I realize that," Alex retorted, "I'm sorry for trying to make a joke."

"Excuse me?!" Natalia asked, turning everyone's attention back to Luke and the other girls. Anise had just made a comment about Luke calling off his engagement to Natalia.

"What?!" Anise asked her, her arms wrapping even more tightly around Luke, much to his annoyance as he continued to try and fight her off.

"Luke, you're despicable," Tear sighed, her hand on her forehead.

Luke looked shocked that Tear had said something like that to him, "What? Like this is my fault?!"

"It's nice to see you all getting along so well," Jade shrugged before starting down the ladder.

"Are you blind?!" Luke asked, not detecting the sarcasm as he finally removed Anise from him and followed Jade, everyone taking the hint and going down the ladder as well.

To Luke's dismay, it was raining outside, not that he had run out of things to complain about before they made it outside. Climbing down the ladder was a task in itself since it was wet and slippery from the rain; it didn't get much easier when the water being soaked into Guy's clothes nearly doubled his weight. At least the rain was washing off all the dirt and grime from the factory. Once they were safely at the bottom, they were greeted by a surprise.

"Ion!" Anise shouted, causing Ion and the two people guiding him onto the Tartarus to turn around.

"Who are those people with the Fon Master?" Natalia asked.

"The God Generals," Jade answered simply.

But there were only a couple of them. Asch the Bloody and Sync the Tempest.

"Give back Ion!" Luke shouted suddenly, and without showing any sign of thought he charged at the one with long red hair, Asch, with his sword raised.

Asch pulled out his own sword and blocked Luke's attack without much effort, and before the others could draw their own weapons to help, Luke was being thrown to the muddy ground with a shocked expression on his face as Asch boarded the Tartarus. Only seconds later, the landship was leaving, Ion with it.

Guy was only vaguely aware of his feet carrying him toward his idiot friend, who had still not gotten up off the ground.

"Luke, are you alright?" he asked, as everyone else joined them.

"He looked like me," Luke replied, still shocked. He wasn't looking at anyone, instead his eyes were fixed on the place Asch had been only moments before.

Jade looked uncharacteristically like he could kill someone.

* * *

**_A/N: I don't own Tales of the Abyss._**

**_I don't think I've read many TotA stories with capacity cores included in the story. I thought it might be a fun idea to play with, but it's not like I'll be switching everyone's capacity cores constantly like you do while playing the game to gain AD skills._**

**_So I've edited this chapter to include the fight with the Abaddon, among other things...and it almost tripled the length of the chapter.  
_**


	3. Of Deserts and Ruins

_Chapter 3: Of Deserts and Ruins_

"He… He looked like me."

"What does this mean?" Natalia asked no one in particular as she crouched down beside Luke, watching him worriedly. She didn't seem to care that she was getting mud all over her nice clothes, which came as a bit of a shock to Alex since she normally hated that kind of thing. Maybe it was because the rain would wash most of it away that she didn't care.

Jade looked like he knew the answer to her question, but he quickly changed the subject, "By the way, they took Ion and left."

Anise gasped, and Alex turned around to notice that the Tartarus was, in fact, gone. How had they left with such a bid landship without them really noticing?

Anise was pulling at her pigtails in frustration, "I let them get away!"

Jade sighed, "Regardless, we've encountered the God-Generals. The decoy is a failure."

"Do you think we should go back to Baticul and travel by ship?" Guy asked him.

"No!" Anise yelled, running towards him. He backed away about ten feet, faster than should be humanly possible – Alex barely saw him move.

"That'll just get us farther away from Ion!" she continued, "We need to save him as fast as possible!"

"She's right," Natalia agreed. It looked like it was painful for her to say so, as she and Anise had done nothing but fight in the factory. "Besides, it would be a waste of time. Father most likely sealed the port after the decoy departed. He still doesn't trust Malkuth."

"Luke?" Jade asked with a tone of sarcasm in his voice as he turned to the _ambassador_, "What do you think we should do? Should we return to Baticul and hand Natalia and Alex over to His Majesty?"

Alex seriously didn't want that, especially after going through that horrible factory. She really wouldn't want to have to go through it again. Natalia seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"You can't do that!" she turned back to Luke, "Luke! You _know_ what I mean!"

Alex wondered just what exactly Natalia was blackmailing him with, but she wasn't about to bring it up.

"Fine," he glared at her, "We go by land. We'll have all sorts of trouble if we don't bring Alex and Natalia with us. We're going to Chesedonia, right?"

Natalia and Alex were both pleased that he was allowing them to continue to tag along with them. Even if it was dangerous, it was still much more exciting than daily life in the manor.

"That's right, Master!" Mieu replied to Luke happily, while hopping up and down.

Luke kicked him, sending him flying away from the others, squealing loudly. "No one asked you, Thing!"

"Luke!" Tear chastised, her hands on her hips, "Don't take it out on Mieu!"

"Indeed," Natalia agreed, crossing her arms and glaring at her fiance, "He was only answering your question." Soon both of the girls were ganging up on him, reprimanding him for his treatment of Mieu.

"This is why women scare me..." Guy said, shrinking away from the group yet again.

"You say that all the time!" Alex told him, raising her eyebrow bemusedly at him. She was failing to hide her smile; she was having more fun in these few moments of pointless bickering than she'd ever had at the manor. She was most likely especially happy after getting out of that factory and surviving through the mutant spider ordeal. Even the fact that it was raining couldn't bring her down.

"Well, that's because it's true," Guy mumbled, turning his head away from her.

"Now that that's settled, and we're all getting along nicely," Jade said while Anise and Alex rolled their eyes at his comment, "As Tear said earlier, there's an Oasis in the middle of the desert on the way to Chesedonia. Shall we end this amusing conversation for now and proceed?"

"Do you think they could have taken Ion there?" Anise asked.

"The landship was headed that way," Jade replied.

They finally set out. It continued raining for a little while, but it faded as they grew nearer to the desert. When it wasn't rain that slowed them down, it was sand. After a few hours of walking, their clothes were all soaked and carrying mountains of sand in them. The fact that it was ridiculously hot didn't help lighten the mood either, but at least it was slowly drying their clothes.

It was safe to say they were all miserable, especially Anise, who was worried about Ion, and Luke, who was particularly loud when there was something to complain about (at that moment it was everything). The only one who didn't seem unhappy was Jade, whose sarcastic comments were coming more and more often. He seemed to be enjoying himself, which only made the rest of the group more annoyed.

After what seemed like ages, they finally made it to the oasis Tear told them about. Just as Alex was getting excited about relaxing for a while, Luke collapsed with no warning, clutching his head in pain.

"What the hell?" he said through gritted teeth, his eyes shut tight in pain.

Since she had grown up with Luke, she knew what was happening immediately. He was getting one of the headaches he'd been getting constantly since his kidnapping, but it seemed worse this time. He even began to speak to himself, though he was addressing Asch for some reason. The heat must have messed with his head.

"Luke! Is it those headaches again?" Guy asked.

The others looked slightly confused, all except for those who had grown up with him in the manor.

"Headaches?" Tear asked, watching Luke closely.

Guy quickly explained, "Ever since he was kidnapped, he'll occasionally get headaches, or sometimes even hear voices."

"But he just said Asch's name," Alex said, "He's never been able to actually talk to people, maybe it's just the heat messing with him or something."

"…Perhaps," Jade replied, pushing his glasses up his nose. He looked like he knew something though, so Alex assumed her theory was incorrect. She doubted that he would tell the others what he thinking.

"Where are you?" Luke suddenly demanded, most likely still thinking he was talking to Asch.

A couple of the people in the oasis were giving him weird looks. Alex could see why; he did look like a crazy person, talking to himself. She was actually a bit surprised some of the members in their group hadn't distanced themselves a bit from Luke so it wasn't obvious they were traveling with him.

The headache eventually stopped and Luke stood up and turned to the others, looking very unhappy about something.

"Luke!" Anise cried launching herself at him and hugging him tightly around the middle, "Are you alright?"

"Master! Are you sick?" Mieu asked hovering beside him, his big eyes wide with worry.

Luke pushed Anise away from him without a word. He was still clutching his head.

"Hearing imaginary voices again?" Guy asked him.

"I _doubt_ that was just my imagination," he replied, sounding unusually calm for Luke, "The voice I heard was definitely Asch's. He said he was with Ion in the Zao Ruins."

"Ion's there?" Anise asked, eyes wide.

"The Zao Ruins?" Jade asked, "From two thousand years ago?"

Luke turned to face him, "Where are they?"

"I'm afraid I don't know," Jade shrugged, sarcasm thick in his voice, "I'd be most grateful if the _leader _of this mission would find them for us…"

"You really like to be a jerk, don't you?" Luke asked, glaring at him.

"Not at all!" Jade replied innocently, feigning being insulted, "I'm so good-natured and honest, it almost hurts!"

Tear sighed, "Colonel, _please_ stop teasing Luke." She turned to Luke, "Let's ask the people here in the Oasis where the ruins might be."

"But we don't know if Luke was actually hearing Asch," Alex said, "What if Ion really isn't there? We can't really keep Akzeriuth waiting for much longer."

The others seemed to think about this for a moment. Luke looked a little insulted and annoyed that Alex didn't think he'd really been hearing Asch.

"But what if he is there?" Anise demanded, "We have to go so we'll know for sure!"

Alex sighed, "I guess so…"

She pushed all thoughts of resting out of her mind as the group split up to ask civilians for any ideas on where the ruins were and stock up on water supply for the long trek across the desert to find them.

* * *

"Why did they have to bring him to some hot, creepy, unbearable ruins?" Alex complained as they entered the Zao Ruins, "Why couldn't they bring him to a place with water and flowers or something?..."

"Complaining must come with the territory when you're a Fabre," Jade said quietly.

"Did you say something?" both Alex and Luke asked in tandem, glaring at him. Guy was laughing behind them.

"No," he replied innocently, "Nothing at all."

It had taken them a couple hours to find the ruins, though it seemed to take much longer due to how miserable everyone was. Even Jade didn't appear as annoyingly happy as he was before.

It was even hotter in the ruins than it was outside, not to mention dark. Sand seemed to be floating in the air and into everyone's mouths and eyes, making it nearly impossible to see and breathe.

"Jeeze..." Anise coughed, "What business would anyone have in a place like this? Let's get Ion and get out of here."

Everyone nodded in agreement; they didn't want to open their mouths because of the sand. Luke still complained the entire way, not seeming to understand that was the reason he was coughing so often.

The first room they were in was a cave that went deep underneath the desert above them. The falling sand from above made Alex nervous that everything would collapse and they would all die. It took forever for them to finally leave the first room, since they wanted to move slowly because of how unstable the ground they were walking on was.

The second room they entered really wasn't a room at all. It was more like an ancient underground city connected by bridges. Though all the buildings were in shambles and the bridges looked even more unstable than the ground they had been walking on so far. Still, the sight was amazing. Alex wondered how they had even been built below the desert, or if they were once above the ground and somehow managed to sink beneath the sand.

The ground seemed to crumble below them more and more with each step they took, and crossing the bridges was particularly concerning for that reason. They moved slowly and cautiously, not wanting to step in the wrong place by accident and end up falling to their deaths, much like with the abandoned factory.

"Damn, these things are annoying!" Luke shouted in between his complaints of the sand and the dry heat, waving his sword around at a group of bats that were flying above them.

"You must feel right at home then," Jade replied as Alex ducked Luke's sword.

"Watch it!" she yelled at him, giving him the biggest glare she could muster, "You almost took my head off!"

"Jeeze, _sorry_," Luke replied, returning her glare, "But it's not my fault these stupid bats won't-!"

Before Luke could finish his sentence, the bridge crumbled beneath his and Alex's feet. Since they were at the back of the group, they were the only ones to fall, though thankfully Luke had quick enough reflexes to grab hold of the part of the bridge they were facing, and Alex clung onto his waist.

"Oh no!" she heard Anise cry, "Don't worry, I'll save you, Luke!"

It was good to know Anise cared about Alex too. By Anise's grunts, she could tell she was trying to pull them up. Unsurprisingly both Luke and Alex were too much for a small thirteen-year-old girl to pull up.

"Hold on," she heard Tear say, and she tried to help as well. Alex could hear the others except for Jade start to panic as well. Alex already knew Guy wouldn't be able to help because of his phobia.

"What else am I going to do?" Luke demanded, "Let go and let us fall to our deaths?"

"You better not!" Alex told him, looking below them and noting with panic that it was too dark to see where they would land if they fell.

Alex felt herself and Luke being lifted slightly and imagined that Tear was helping Anise. She felt relieved she wasn't going to fall to her death. But just as that relief sank in, she heard the sound of crumbling again and dread washed over her once more. She looked up at the part of the bridge that was holding up Tear and Anise and saw that it was starting to fall apart as well. The four of their weights combined was too much for the structure to hold.

She could hear the others' shouts as the four of them fell, and the screams of the others falling with her. Amongst the screams she heard Tear singing, and she wondered why on Auldrant she would be singing at a time like this.

_"Croa riou ze tue riou rei neu riou ze…"_

The last thing she saw was a bright light surrounding them, and then she blacked out.

* * *

"Alex, wake up!"

Alex moaned as she sat up on the hard, sandy ground, holding her head. Everything hurt.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Oh good," Tear said, "You're alright."

"We fell from that bridge, remember?" Anise said.

"Oh, right…" Alex replied quietly, recalling what had just happened, "What was that song you sang, Tear? Is that why we didn't die?"

"Yes. It was one of Yulia's Fonic Hymns. I created a barrier to soften our impact on the ground. If you're still hurt, I can heal you."

Alex stood up and shook her head, "No, I'm fine. Just a little sore, thanks. And I'd heard from one of my tutors once that Yulia's Fonic Hymns were too difficult to comprehend." She looked around at the others and noticed that Natalia was with them. So she had fallen too; she probably grabbed hold of Tear at the last second in attempts to save the others.

"Tear's a descendant of Yulia, so she can understand them," Anise replied.

"Really?" Natalia asked, "That's fascinating."

"Yeah, and that means Master Van's a descendant of Yulia too!" Luke added with grin that he only wore when Van was either around or came up in conversation, "Isn't that cool?"

Alex sighed, he was entirely too infatuated with that man, "I think you're in_ love_, Luke."

"Huh?" Luke asked, confused, "No I'm not! Why would you even say something so random?"

"Besides," Natalia said, her arms crossed, "He still has that promise to me."

"I told you a thousand times that I don't remember making that promise!"

"Is he really that dense?" Anise whispered, "Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter. He's still the Duke's son, so I love him anyway."

Alex didn't quite know how to respond to that last bit, so she decided to answer her question instead, "…Yeah, but I guess it can't be helped from living such a sheltered life."

"What are you talking about?" Luke demanded, "You weren't allowed to leave the manor either!"

"Yeah, but I paid attention to my tutors, and-"

It was Tear's turn to sigh, "That's enough. We need to regroup as quickly as possible. The others probably don't know that we're alive."

"Oh yeah," Luke said, "I guess Guy's probably worried. I don't think Jade would be though."

"Indeed," Tear replied, "He's probably happy to be away from you."

"Lucky bastard…" Alex muttered.

"Right!" Anise said, starting to head off, "So then let's go! We can't keep Ion waiting any longer!"

"Yes, and Akzeriuth as well."

The other three followed Anise, and they walked in silence for about a half hour. Alex was actually surprised at how quiet Luke was being. But then again since they were a lot deeper in the ruins the air was a lot harder to breathe in, and it was a lot darker as well.

"'Let's go to Akzeriuth too!' she said," Alex muttered quietly under her breath in a poor attempt at impersonating Natalia, her eyes on the real princess ahead of her a few feet to make sure she didn't hear, "'It'll be good for us!' she said."

"Did you say something, Alex?" Natalia asked, turning her head to look at her.

"No, nothing," Alex smiled innocently.

"Man, this is boring," Luke said, kicking a pebble into a pile of nearby rocks.

They all froze when four rabbit-like creatures appeared from behind the rocks, probably startled by the noise the pebble Luke kicked had made. Two of them were quite large, and were wielding scythes, one was quite small with a wand, and the other was in between, holding a spear. They all wore leaves as if they were armor.

"Way to go, Luke," Alex said as she drew her sword.

"Shut up! How was _I_ supposed to know they would be there?"

"Stop arguing and prepare for battle," Tear scolded, "Here they come. Hold them off while Natalia and I cast!"

"Right!" Anise said as she pulled her doll off of her back and its size grew, "Leave it to us!"

Alex and Luke both darted at the two bigger Pans, holding them off with their swords, while Anise went after the smallest one and Natalia began shooting arrows at the medium sized one. Tear began casting in the meantime.

The smallest one was taken care of quite easily by Anise, her doll smacked it with such force that it was thrown off of the level they were on and it fell even deeper into the ruins. It probably wouldn't survive. Anise then started to cast as well.

_"O melody beckoning toward the abyss. Toue Rei Zue Kuroa Ryuo Toue Zue," _Tear sang, and Alex recognized it as the very song that was sung on the day Luke had disappeared from the manor, but this time she didn't feel drowsy upon hearing the song. Instead, thick, purple bubbles that reminded her of poison appeared at the feet of the Pan Luke was fighting, and she saw that it was starting to fall asleep as Luke cut it in half, its blood staining his white clothes.

Alex froze for a second at the sight of so much blood, and the slight loss in her composure ended in the Pan she was battling slashing at her shoulder with its scythe.

She screamed in pain and fell backwards, her grip on her sword weakening from the pain in her shoulder. She'd never felt anything like it before. No amount of training could prepare her for the pain she felt at that moment. She watched in terror as the Pan raised its scythe above its head, ready to give the final blow.

_"O twisted door of distortion, open wide! Negative Gate!"_

The spell hit the Pan before it could attack Alex, and the many purple blades inflicted serious damage on it. It was barely alive and covered from head to toe in deep cuts when the spell ended, and Luke finished it off.

"Are you alright, Alex?" Natalia asked as she ran over to her, starting to cast.

"Yeah," she replied, looking to her side to see that the medium sized Pan was lying dead a few feet away, an arrow sticking out of its heart, "Thanks, Anise."

"Don't worry about it," Anise said as she shrank her doll back to its normal size, "Just pay more attention in battle so it doesn't happen again, alright?"

"Seriously," Luke said, "You could have been killed, you know!"

"Right, sorry."

"Don't apologize," Tear told her, "Just learn form this mistake and make sure it never happens again. Battling real monsters like this takes some time to get used to."

_"O soothing light. Heal."_

The searing pain in Alex's shoulder subsided, but she still felt wetness where the wound had been and she could tell without looking that her clothes were still torn and bloodstained. But the pain was gone, and that was all that mattered to her at the moment.

"Thanks, Natalia," she said as they both got up.

"You're alright to walk?" Tear asked.

"Yeah."

"Then let's keep moving, we need to regroup quickly."

"It certainly is more difficult fighting real monsters..." Natalia said as they continued on their way, "It never goes as smoothly as it does when training."

"If that's how you feel, then why don't you just go home?" Luke asked.

"No! Besides, did my healing artes not prove useful just now?"

"She's right," Tear sighed, "Until recently you've all had to depend on me for healing, it took up quite a bit of my energy. It is useful to have another healer."

They continued walking in silence for another half hour, not having anymore trouble from monsters, and they were steadily getting higher into the ruins. Alex wondered how much longer they would have to walk before they met up with the others. The heat was unbearable and all the walking uphill was tiring them all out. She would kill for a drink of water right now, but the bag was with the Colonel and Guy. She vaguely remembered that Mieu was with them too. The poor blue furball was probably having a panic attack worrying about Luke right now. She had to wonder what Luke would have done to make Mieu like him so much, since he treated the poor thing horribly. She made a mental note to ask him once they were out of the ruins.

"Damn it!" Luke said suddenly, "Where the hell are the others? This is such a pain!"

Alex's eye twitched, "We wouldn't be _looking_ for them if we knew where they were, would we?"

"Ohhh… Please don't fight," Anise pleaded quietly.

"Yes," Tear agreed, "It would be easier for us if you would both be quiet."

"Whatever."

"Sorry."

Alex sighed as she continued on with the others. That battle made her remember that both of the group's healers were with them. She hoped Jade and Guy were both alright.


	4. God Generals

_**A/N: Do not own Tales of the Abyss**_.

* * *

_Chapter 4 – God-Generals_

"We aren't helping them by standing around, Guy," Jade said sternly as Guy stared wide-eyed down into the darkness that the others had fallen into. The bridge now had a gaping hole on its side, leaving only a small part of the other side for them to walk on whenever they left the ruins, "We need to move on."

Guy nodded numbly and turned to face Jade.

"I'm worried about Master!" Mieu squeaked from beside Guy.

"I'm sure he's fine," Jade replied as he turned around and started walking, "But we need to keep moving downward if we're going to find out."

They walked in silence. Guy was worried about the others. Alex and Natalia were still new to fighting, and Luke was still no expert either. His only forms of comfort were the facts that Tear and Natalia were both healers, and Anise was seriously skilled with Tokunaga. Still though, they'd fallen pretty far, considering Guy was unable to see where they had landed. He hoped they survived.

He was also worried about how difficult it would be to get through the ruins with just Jade and Mieu with him. There were definitely monsters in the ruins, and they had no healers. At least Guy was the one carrying the item bag, so they had some apple gels if they needed them. But it would still be a pain if they were attacked by a group of monsters since Guy would be the only one fending them off as Jade casted. They would have to avoid as many monsters as possible.

"We should hurry," Jade said suddenly, "Having just two of us could become a problem later on. It would be easier if Largo hadn't put that fon slot seal on me."

Guy wondered briefly if Jade could read minds.

"I'm here too, Colonel!" Mieu piped up, raising his hand in the air.

"Yes, of course," Jade replied, smiling bemusedly at the cheagle, "My apologies Mieu. At any rate, we need to regroup as quickly as possible, I'm worried about how Luke might screw things up when I don't have my eye on him."

Guy smiled slightly, "I wouldn't worry about it too much; Tear seems to have him whipped. Natalia's pretty good at keeping him in check too. Whatever she blackmailed him with in the factory is helping her do that."

Jade pushed his glasses up his nose, and Guy could see from the corner of his eye that he was smirking, "Regardless, we still don't have a healer. It would of course be ideal to meet up with the others before confronting the God-Generals and taking Ion back. I doubt they'll just hand him over without a fight."

Guy's smile faded, he was worried about how Natalia and Alex would take fighting other people, God-Generals or not. "That's true."

Hardly five minutes later as they were making there way through what looked like the remains of a neighborhood, two large pans emerged from behind a destroyed building.

They didn't attack, but instead pointed their spears at them and started speaking to them in their language.

"Mieu," Jade asked as the monsters continued their uproar, "What are they saying?"

"They say that we're trespassing," Mieu replied in his high voice, "They say that we aren't welcome here and we need to leave at once or they have to kill us!"

"Can you explain to them that we're only here to save a friend and we'll leave as soon as we're done?" Guy asked him.

Mieu nodded and approached the monsters, maintaining a safe distance from them. He spoke to them for a few moments in their monster language before turning back to Guy and Jade.

"They say that four others already came this way and three of them killed a lot of their people. They don't trust us."

Jade sighed, "Well, at least now we know Luke wasn't merely hallucinating. The God-Generals are here. It may be harsh, but we'll have to kill these monsters if we want to continue."

Guy felt bad about it, but there was no choice. He unsheathed his sword and took stance, but the second he did more Pans made appearances from every direction, and what he thought were just rocks started moving and he realized that they were in fact more monsters lying in wait.

"Damn it, we're outnumbered!"

To his annoyance, Jade was actually laughing, "This is terrible!"

As Guy charged at the monsters he wondered why he had to be stuck with Jade of all people.

"I'll take care of the rock elements," Jade said as he began to cast, "I'll leave the rest to you, don't let them interfere with my casting."

It was easier said than done. There were so many of the pans, at least twelve of them, for just Guy alone to handle. He took care of the smallest ones first, since they were pretty easy to deal with and it seemed that they were able to cast as well, which would become a problem. Guy cut them down one by one, not letting himself feel remorse for the creatures by reminding himself that he needed to do it to find Luke and the others, as well as get Ion away from the God-Generals.

Once the smaller ones were taken care of, there were nine Pans left. Five medium sized ones and four of the large ones, two of which were wielding small scythes rather than spears like the ones from before. He went after the big ones first, since they looked more dangerous than the medium sized ones who help only rods. Jade was strong enough to protect himself from those ones if they came at him while he was casting.

_"O violent torrent,"_ Jade chanted as a glowing circle erupted around him, his long hair floating around his shoulders, _"Splash!_"

The waves hit the two rock elements and as the water flowed they were pulled with the currents right over the edge of the platform they were on. Well, that took care of them.

Instead of going back to casting, Jade's spear appeared in his hand and he joined Guy in taking care of the Pans. Since there were two of them to handle them now, it didn't take that long for all of the monsters to be defeated. Luckily enough, neither Guy nor Jade had been injured, so they wouldn't have to use any of their few apple gels.

The second the monsters were all taken care of, Guy started walking again, faster than before. He paid no attention to the bloodstains on his clothes.  
"I feel bad for them..." Mieu said, "They were only protecting their home."

Guy spared a glance at the cheagle and saw that he was genuinely upset, his ears were drooping as he floated along to keep up with Guy, "I know, Mieu, sorry, but it can't be helped. You want to meet up with Luke right?" The cheagle nodded, his eyes watery. "Well we can't do that if we let monsters kill us."

"Yeah, I want to make sure Master and Tear are alright! Thanks, Guy. You're so nice!"

Guy looked back after noticing Jade was being too quiet to see that he was walking slowly a few feet behind them, he didn't seem to even be trying to keep up.

"Jade, come on! Hurry it up!"

"Must you treat your elders so poorly?" Jade sighed as Guy rolled his eyes impatiently, "What's your hurry? The worst that could happen is they all die."

Guy glared at him.

"Relax, I'm joking."

"That's hardly something to joke about! Especially at a time like this!"

"I suppose you're right, my apologies. You shouldn't worry too much about them regardless, it'll only interfere with your fighting. Keep in mind that they have both our healers with them, there's only so much an apple gel can do if you get hurt."

"Alright, you have a point."

They continued walking for some time, and eventually they heard voices coming from a pathway adjacent to them.

"Would you stop swinging your sword around like that? You're going to hurt somebody one of these days!"

"Shut up! It's these damn bats! I wouldn't have to swing my sword around if they weren't here!"

Guy sighed. He never thought he would be happy to hear Luke and Alex arguing.

They came into view just in time for Guy to see Luke nearly take Tear's head off with her sword.

"Luke!" the brunette said in a dangerous voice, "Put your sword away. Now."

Luke looked like he was going to argue, but upon her murderous gaze he shrank away slightly and did as he was told. Guy didn't blame him. Women could really be scary sometimes.

"Told you," Alex said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at him.

"Sh-shut up."

Upon further inspection, Guy noticed that there was a single bat hovering above them, and it didn't seem to have any desires to attack them despite Luke swinging his sword around at it.

"Oh!" Anise said, pointing in the direction of Guy, Jade, and Mieu, "There they are!"

As their group hurried toward Guy and Jade, Guy saw that some of their clothes were bloodstained as well. Alex's shirt was ripped at her shoulder, where the biggest of the stains was on her clothes, leading Guy to believe she had been injured. She looked uninjured now though, so he pushed it to the back of his mind. There were more important things going on right now, he would ask what happened later.

As Guy opened his mouth to greet them, Mieu darted past him and toward Luke.

"Master! I was so worried about you!"

"I don't need _you_ to worry about me!" Luke yelled, throwing poor Mieu to the ground and stepping on his head. Guy winced. What reason did Luke even have to always treat him that way?

"Do you need to treat him so badly?..." Alex asked.

"Indeed," Natalia agreed, hands on her hips, "You should treat him more kindly. What has Mieu ever done to you?"

"He's annoying!"

Tear sighed, "We should be hurrying to find the Fon Master." She stepped forward before her eye gave a noticeable twitch and she turned back to Luke, who's foot was still on Mieu's head, "Luke, stop hurting Mieu!"

"Everyone's alright?" Jade sighed as Luke finally allowed Mieu to breathe again. Everyone nodded, "Then let's continue."

"Yeah," Anise said, "I'm worried about Ion! And I'd seriously rather not be in these hot, dusty old ruins for much longer."

It didn't take them long at all to reach the end of the ruins after they had regrouped, since they were nearly there when they met up. They entered the large chamber the God-Generals and Ion were in, and they saw Ion holding his arms up in front of a large doorway with intricate patterns on it, light appearing from his hands. Asch the Bloody watched him while Sync the Tempest and Largo the Black Lion stood in front of them, supposedly on guard duty.

"The Fon Master is in the middle of a ritual," the biggest one, Largo, said as they approached, "We'll have no interference from you."

"Such impudence!" Natalia said, glaring at the man, as Asch and Ion turned to face the group. The door was now gone. Ion looked happy to see them, Asch's expression was unreadable. "And after kidnapping the one you're supposed to serve!"

Anise ran forward, "Sync, Largo! Give Ion back!"

"I think not," the masked one, Sync, replied, "We still have work for him."

"Then we'll just take him back by force!" Luke yelled, pulling out his sword.

Guy sighed heavily as he drew his weapon alongside the others.

After all they went through in the ruins, they were all exhausted. Guy was really hoping they wouldn't have to do this, but he should have known better than to think the God-Generals would just willingly hand Ion back to them after going through the trouble of kidnapping him.

But then again, something good might come out of this. From his last run-in with Sync in Choral Castle, he had seen Sync's face. He couldn't be sure yet, but he wanted to see his face again to be positive. If he played his cards right, there was a chance he could knock his mask off again and see. It probably wouldn't be as easy this time though; Sync would probably do everything he could to make sure his mask stayed in place.

"This should be fun," Largo said, snapping Guy out of his thoughts. Largo was looking directly at Luke, "Let's see how much you've grown since I last saw you, cowering on the Tartarus."

"That's nice, coming from someone who was half-dead after one shot by Jade."

Largo laughed, "Yeah, well, we won't be losing so easily this time, boy."

* * *

**_A/N: Seriously...Why do Guy and Luke wear white when their clothes are just going to get bloodstained all the time? Did they not realize they were most likely going to kill monsters or anything when they set out? At least with Luke he was taken out of the manor unwillingly at first, but he could have changed into something less likely to show bloodstains at the manor..._**


	5. Losing Control

_**A/N: Do not own Tales of the Abyss.**_

* * *

_Chapter 5: Losing Control_

Everything went insane once Sync and Largo charged toward them. Jade, Tear, and Natalia immediately set to casting, while the others darted in front of them, attacking the two God-Generals to prevent them from interfering with the others' casting.

The last thing Alex wanted to do after hours of traveling through abandoned factories and deserts and ruins was battle. And not only was she battling, she was battling two God Generals. And Luke was right in assuming that she would have some trouble in fighting against two living people, whether or not they were trying to kill her and the others.

Largo was incredibly strong, and before long he had thrown Luke to the ground with his scythe - thankfully there were no wounds, from what Alex could see - and turned to attack Guy before he could get at Sync.

Sync was strong as well, but not quite as powerful. To make up for it though, he had amazing speed. More than once he had gotten out of the way just in time to avoid a slash of Alex's sword or a swipe from Anise's doll. After jumping out of the way of one of its attacks, he kicked her doll with such force that she'd been thrown to the other side of the chamber they were in, falling off of her doll along the way.

"Anise!" Ion shouted, trying to run to her. Asch held him back without much effort.

Natalia ran to her side immediately and cast a healing arte. In no time, Anise was back on her doll and charging toward Sync, who was once more making easy work of continuously dodging Alex's sword.

_"O maddening gala of the spirits of the earth. Stalagmite!"_

The sharp rocks Jade summoned that struck Sync from below made him stumble, and it was easier to land a blow on him. Alex quickly slashed his arm with her sword while he was still regaining his composure. It was a shame Jade's fon slots were sealed, she would have liked to see more of his artes.

Sync cursed and held his arm while blood gushed from the wound. Alex froze, she had just cut open a person's arm!

Sync wasn't still for long, and before Alex knew what was happening, Sync was attacking her again, with more force than before.

Great. She'd gone and made him angry.

Anise swiped at him from behind, and he jumped away to dodge it. Before he had a proper footing, Guy ran at him and started attacking him, leaving Luke alone to handle Largo. Noticing this, Anise dashed to help Luke and Alex followed, noticing with curiosity that Guy seemed to be aiming to remove Sync's mask.

She paid no attention to it though as she blocked a swing of Largo's scythe and Anise used all the force she could muster and punched Largo in the gut with her doll.

Many times Alex and the others thanked Tear and Natalia for their healing artes. It was no doubt because of them that they had managed to survive to this point. Jade's artes were proving to come in handy as well.

If they weren't up against God-Generals, the battle would most likely have been over by now, but instead it had been going on for a while. Everyone was already exhausted from all the traveling and the heat, and the God-Generals weren't backing down. If it went on for much longer, they'd be in trouble.

"Enough!" Asch finally shouted, causing the other God-Generals to draw back and turn their attention to him. He was obviously sick of the display, "The two of you _still_ can't handle this trash? Pathetic!"

'Thank Yulia,' Alex thought as she stuck her sword in the ground for something to lean on, she was completely exhausted and just about ready to pass out. She was happy somebody was sensible enough to stop the fighting. From the corner of her eye she saw a flash of dark blue, and she could have sworn she'd seen somebody's long ponytail, light brown in colour, disappear behind a large boulder. She shook the thought away, it must have just been her imagination.

She snapped out of it when she heard two blades clashing and saw Luke and Asch in battle. When they were so close together Alex really couldn't help but notice just how similar they looked.

They fought for a few moments as the others watched, until both Luke and Asch used a move that Alex recognized as one Van had taught Luke.

Luke froze when he landed on the ground, "Th-that's one of Master Van's moves! How did you know it?"

"What are you, stupid?" Asch demanded, "It's because we trained in the same style, how else?"

Sync grabbed Asch's shoulder, "Stop! You get carried away when left on your own. Put away your sword, now!" He turned to face the group, and they all raised their weapons again. Alex dreaded another fight. "Let's make a deal. In exchange for ending the fight here, we'll let the Fon Master go."

"We won't need any deals if we just wipe you out," Guy replied, glaring at Sync. Alex had never seen him glare so intensely at anyone before, it was a little strange seeing him show any sign of hatred to anybody, though she remembered that when he first started at the manor he didn't like to talk to Luke or Alex much.

"Do you really think we'd be able to pull that off, Guy?" Alex asked, "Not all of us are in great condition right now, and we're all exhausted already."

He thought about it for a moment.

"Don't forget that we're standing beneath the desert," Sync told him, in a mocking voice, "We can bury you along with us."

"We'd die too, of course," Largo added, "But that's a sacrifice we're willing to make."

"Let's agree to their offer," Tear said, "Right now, we need to recover Ion and hurry to Akzeriuth."

"We're already late from traveling by land," Jade added.

"All right," Luke replied, and without hesitation the God-Generals let Ion go.

Anise rushed to meet him, "Ion! I was so worried about you!"

"Turn around and leave this place!" Sync told them, "If you come back, we really will bury you."

Everyone turned around and began to leave, Guy and Natalia both hesitated. Alex noticed Guy was staring hard at Sync.

"They really are the same," she heard him mutter. What did he mean by that?

"I can't stand being ordered around by filth like him," Natalia said, also looking at Sync.

Honestly, Alex couldn't either. But she wasn't about to complain about it now. They'd managed to survive a fight with two God-Generals, they successfully recovered Ion, and they were now finally leaving the ruins. Who cared if they were ordered around by someone if it meant living?

"Yeah," Guy replied to Natalia as they all started making their way out of the ruins, "But you need to deal with it for now Natalia."

"I know that," she replied, "On this journey, I'm not traveling as the princess."

They heard Largo's voice come from behind them, "...Natalia?"

Natalia stopped and turned her head to him, "What is it?"

"Natalia, let's go!" Luke called.

She nodded and they continued on, leaving the chamber the God-Generals were in.

They made their way back up through the ruins, still moving slowly and watching their step carefully to make sure no bridges would fall apart beneath them again.

"Oh no!" Anise suddenly exclaimed, inspecting her doll, "Argh! Largo ripped open Tokunaga's arm!"

"Tokunaga?..." Alex asked.

"Yeah!" Anise replied, holding her doll up close to Alex's face, "Tokunaga! I'm gonna have to sew him up again tonight... His stuffing's falling out."

"You know how to sew, Anise?" Natalia asked.

"Yep! I'm a pretty good cook too. I have to make sure I'm good at these things if I'm gonna make a good wife one day," she giggled, looking at Luke.

"Uh..." he recoiled. Natalia narrowed her eyes at the small girl.

"Oh! And it looks like you'll need to sew up your clothes too, Alex. You can borrow my sewing needle and thread once I'm done with Tokunaga if you want."

"Oh, uh...Thanks." Alex had forgotten about the tears in her clothes. On top of the one on her shoulder she had gotten from the Pan, Largo had added a couple more on her gloves and sleeves. She'd have to wash the blood out of them too, once they reached a place with water.

"Do you even know how to sew?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"No, actually..." she sighed, "Do you?"

Luke laughed, putting his arms behind his head, "No way! Sewing's for girls."

"Oh, I beg to differ," Jade shrugged, "I find it quite useful actually. Being from the military I have to repair my own uniform quite often."

"Yeah, Luke," Guy said, "I do it too. It can really come in handy for after a battle."

Alex found it hard to picture Jade of all people sewing. At least Guy she could picture, since he was good with his hands and she'd seen him tinkering with small fon machines all the time back in the manor.

"It really is a useful skill," Ion added, "I do it as a hobby, whenever I can find some spare time. Along with reading, it's one of the few activities that don't take a lot out of me."

"I don't care. Sewing's still lame and I don't have to learn how to do it."

"Oh?" Alex asked, "You have a couple rips in your clothes too. And they're still bloodstained. Do you just expect them to be good as new when you wake up in the morning?"

"Anise has been fixing them for me."

"Luke!" Natalia gasped, "You can't just take advantage of her like that!"

"What are you talking about? She offered!"

"It's alright!" Anise said, "I dont have any problems with it...But I have been losing some sleep staying up later to fix his clothes."

"Then could you teach us to sew?" Natalia asked, "We could take care of our own clothes and Luke would no longer have to bother you that way."

Anise thought about it, "Alright, I guess I can teach you tonight whenever we set up camp."

"Thanks, Anise," Alex said.

"Hey! Stop making decisions for me! I already said I don't want to learn!"

Natalia sighed, "Alright, then I'll fix your clothes for you. It only makes sense, I am your fiance after all. If anyone's to do these things for you, it should be me."

After a couple hours, the group finally exited the Zao Ruins, which were so horrible they were almost happy to be back in the sweltering heat of the desert. It looked like night was going to fall soon, at least since it was almost night the desert was starting to cool down slightly.

Anise sighed and wiped sweat off her brow, "Even if it's still hot and sandy and dusty, it's still good to be outside."

"I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you all," Ion started, everyone turned to him, "If I hadn't been so careless..."

"Yeah, no kidding, Ion!" Anise said, "That was rough!"

"By the way, Ion," Jade said, "What were they having you do? This is another one of those Sephiroth, isn't it?"

"Yes. To protect the Sephiroth, the Order of Lorelei placed Daathic seals on them. Only a Fon Master can remove them, so the God-Generals demanded that I do so here."

"Why is the Order protecting the Sephiroth?" Guy asked.

"That's confidential to the Order," Ion replied, "But even with the seal open, they shouldn't be able to do anything."

"Well, whatever," Luke said, waving his hand dismissively, "Let's hurry up and get to town. I'm gonna shrivel up out here."

"Yes," Jade sighed, "Let's head for the Oasis, there's water there at least. The desert should cool down during the night as well. We'll have to camp out, there aren't any inns near the Oasis."

"Yeah!" Mieu squeaked, "Let's go!"

"Quiet thing! If you talk you'll just make things hotter!"

* * *

"Like that?"

"Yeah, that's good."

The group had made it to the Oasis before night fell and had set up camp just a little ways out of the small town, closer to Chesedonia, and now they were sitting around a small campfire while Anise taught Alex and Natalia how to sew. Tear and Ion were lending their assistance as well, and the two girls were catching on pretty quick.

"Thank you again for instructing us, Anise," Natalia said as she finished up Luke's shirt.

"Don't worry about it. By the way, Alex, I know why Luke never bothered to learn, but I thought you would have learned how to do this while sword training. Guy knew how."

"Yeah, well we trained with wooden swords. And whenever we did get the odd tear in our clothes a maid would take care of it..." Alex replied nervously, she was afraid this would reinforce their earlier opinions on Alex and Natalia being better off in Baticul, "Since we were confined to the manor anyway I guess they didn't think we would ever actually have to use any skills we developed, so nobody ever taught us. I kind of wish I had at least asked for lessons now though."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense...Anyway, you'll have to do something about those bloodstains before you fix your clothes."

"That'll have to wait..." Alex sighed, she didn't like the thought of putting on her shirt in the morning when it was going to be hard from dried up blood. Because of the blood she had to wait to stitch up the rips in her clothes, she had to wait until she could wash it first since how hard the blood was would prevent her from sewing properly. Instead Anise let her take care of Tokunaga for practice, but she was very strict about how it had to be done since she didn't want her precious doll ruined. "I don't think the people here would appreciate it if we washed our clothes in their only source of water for miles."

She handed Tokunaga back to Anise, who inspected him carefully before saying that she did a good job. Natalia gave Luke back his shirt, clearly eager for a similar response from her fiance; however she didn't even get a thank-you from him as he took his shirt back.

"You should be able to take care of it in one of the inns in Chesedonia," Guy told her, "I think that's something we'll all have to do, we probably don't notice it, but I bet we all smell pretty rank right now."

"Yeah..." Anise sighed, "I feel really gross. How am I supposed to make a rich man fall in love with me if I'm all sweaty? If I don't have my cuteness I have nothing!"

"That's not true, Anise," Ion told her, "You have your cooking. You always said that was the best way to a man's heart."

"Fon Master, please. Shh."

Everyone pretended to ignore what was just said. After finally getting the chance to get to know Fon Master Ion a little, Alex could see why Anise worried so much about him. He seemed a bit naive; it was almost as if he was born two or three years ago.

"A-anyway..." Alex said, trying to change the subject, "I'd kill to have a shower right now."

"No kidding," Guy sighed, "This sand is crazy... It's getting all over the place. I could probably make a mountain with all the sand that'll come out of these clothes."

"Yes..." Tear agreed, "I wouldn't mind a nice shower myself."

"Mmm...Shower."

"Luke!" Natalia cried, "You are the worst! How could you?"

"Wh-what?" Luke asked, moving further away from her, "I'm not doing anything!"

"If you have time for dirty thoughts you should be paying more attention to helping the people of Akzeriuth," Alex told him, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I-I'm not thinking anything!" Luke shouted, "Leave me alone!"

"Disgusting," Natalia said simply, crossing her arms and glaring at him, "I can't believe you're that type of person."

"You pervert!" Anise cried.

Luke groaned loudly, "Just shut up already!"

* * *

Thankfully, it didn't take too long for them to reach Chesedonia. Needless to say, they were all happy to be spending the night in an inn. Even Luke was having a hard time fighting his desire to sleep with his desire to catch up to Van.

However, just as they were getting to the inn, Luke had another one of his headaches. Alex was caught between her concern for her brother and annoyance about still wearing sweaty, blood-stained and dried up clothes.

Tear approached Luke to see if she could help, and before any of them could fully comprehend what was happening, Luke turned his sword on her.

"What the...?" Alex began, her eyes widening at the scene.

Everyone was too shocked to form words. Luke was always a hot-headed idiot, but he would never pull his sword on someone without reason, let alone a member of the group.

"Luke, what are you doing?" Tear asked. Though she was good at hiding her feelings, Alex could still see the shock in her eyes.

"It isn't me!" Luke replied, he did look conflicted, like he was fighting with himself, "It's Asch, he's controlling me!"

Just after he said this, he collapsed. The rest of the group hurried him into the inn and got him into a bed.

"What's happening to him?" Natalia asked, a worried look on her face.

"I have a theory," Jade said, "But I'd rather not say until I'm certain. Though I will say that it probably has to do with whatever Dist did to him at Choral Castle."

"Dist?" Natalia asked.

"Another one of the God Generals," Guy quickly explained.

"Of course," Alex said, irritation gripping her, "Who else would cause that much trouble?"

"At any rate," Jade started, "We should all get some rest. It's been a long day, and tomorrow should be too. With any luck, we'll be reaching Akzeriuth."

Everyone agreed and went to their rooms. Alex quickly ran outside to the bazaar to buy a long piece of blue ribbon. She slipped it through the gap in her capacity core and tied a knot out of its ends and put it around her neck, hiding the the core underneath her shirt as she made her way back to the inn. After Alex washed and repaired her clothes and had a long, hot shower, she happily collapsed onto her bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

* * *

_"Daddy, what's that?"_

_"It's a letter, Dearest."_

_A little girl was sitting on her father's lap while he was writing a letter in the dim candlelight of the room._

_"...Who's it for?"_

_"No one you know."_

_"Oh...'kay. What's it about?"_

_"Nothing too important, Dearest." The man chuckled, amused by the many pointless questions his daughter asked._

_The time passed quietly while the man wrote his letter, the little girl moving around on his lap, trying to find a more comfortable spot. Finally she found it; she had her head leaned against his chest and his arm was around her, making sure she didn't fall. She felt so safe in his arms. She tried to hide a yawn, but failed; her father noticed it._

_He put away his letter and got up, carrying her in his arms. He brought her to her room and placed her in her bed. He pulled the covers over her, kissing her gently on the forehead as her eyelids began to fall._

_"G'night, Daddy," she yawned._

_"Goodnight, Dearest," he whispered in her ear, "Pleasant dreams."_

* * *

"Alex, wake up!"

Someone was shaking her.

"Alex!"

"What?" she asked, sitting up abruptly and almost pushing over the person who woke her up in the process.

"Whoa!" It was Anise, "Calm down, I was just waking you up. We have to get going. Jade wants to get to Akzeriuth today, remember?"

"Oh..." Alex still wasn't completely focused, she was thinking of her dream, "Yeah... Right, sorry."

"Sorry, Anise," Guy started, laughing as he appeared in the doorway. His clothes were now clean and repaired as well, "I probably should have mentioned she isn't a morning person," He looked confused when she didn't respond to him. "Hello? You alright?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah I'm fine. I just had a weird dream."

"Oh. Well you look kind of worried about something."

"It's nothing, Guy, really. We need to get going right? Could you leave, please? So I can get dressed?"

He didn't look convinced, but still left her room. Anise's eyes darted from the door Guy had just left to Alex and then back to the door with confusion written on her face before following him.

Alex decided that she really had more important things to worry about. It was just a dream anyway. And it wasn't like anything overly confusing had happened in it. Just a little girl hanging out with her dad before bed, no big deal. It was a little strange that she had this dream constantly though. She got dressed and headed outside to meet the others, plastering a smile on her face as she went so they wouldn't ask questions.

Guy still looked a little worried about her, and Anise glanced at them both nervously, before Jade began to speak.

"First, let's head to the Malkuth consulate. They've arranged for us to take a ferry to Kaitzur. From there, we go through the Deo Pass, and then Akzeriuth is only a short walk away. If we get lucky, we should arrive before nightfall."

"Why do you suddenly get to make the decisions?" Luke asked, annoyance in his voice, "_I'm_ the ambassador!"

"Luke, grow up," Tear told him, her hands on her hips, "We really don't have time for this today."

Without another word, the group headed to the consulate to get ready for the ferry. Guy was still watching Alex worriedly.

"I'm fine, Guy," she sighed after noticing this, "It was just a dream, it's no big deal."

"Alright, sorry," he said, but he looked like he knew something she didn't. She ignored this, thinking focusing on getting to Akzeriuth was more important.

They were in the middle of making their arrangements at the consulate when another strange occurrence came about; Guy suddenly collapsed with no warning, clutching his head in pain. It looked quite similar to whenever Luke had one of his headaches.

Luke approached him, "Guy! Is something wrong?"

As he came closer to Guy, the blonde suddenly slammed his elbow into Luke's gut, making him double over, clutching his stomach as he fell over.

"Ow!" Luke coughed as he hit the floor, still holding his stomach, "Guy, don't tell me Asch is controlling you now too?"

"I don't think so..." he replied, he sounded like he was in pain, "I don't hear any voices anyway."

"It must be the curse slot!" Ion said.

"The what?" Alex asked. That really didn't sound good. "What's a curse slot?"

"It's a type of Daathic fonic arte," Ion replied, "Its power depends on the proximity between the user and the person affected by it. We should get away from here at once."

No one argued and they quickly boarded their ferry, Luke helping Guy along. Once the ferry set sail, Guy quickly went back to normal.

"Only a Fon Master can use Daathic Fonic Artes..." Ion said, more to himself than anyone else.

Both Guy and Jade looked troubled by this comment.

"It was Sync who cut my arm like this," Guy said, "Does that mean he was the one controlling me?"

Ion hesitated, "...Most likely."

"You sure you're okay?" Alex asked Guy.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, "Never better. What about you? Still worried about that dream?"

"I told you, it was just a dream. Since when would that be more important than what just happened? Honestly, you can worry about yourself, for once," she said, raising an eyebrow at him, "Actually, I guess we both have more important things to worry about right now. Like Akzeriuth."

"Yeah, I guess so," he sighed.

"You look a little tired," Alex said, "I think it'll be a while before we reach Kaitzur, you should go rest."

"Yeah, I'll go do that. See you in a bit then."

"Yeah, see you."


	6. Destruction

_**A/N: Do not own Tales of the Abyss.**_

* * *

_Chapter 6: Destruction_

"Man, at this rate we'll never catch up to Master Van!" Luke complained as they entered the Deo Pass around midday.

They didn't spend any time in Kaitzur when they got there and instead kept moving straight for the pass.

"We shouldn't have wasted time in the desert!" Luke then added.

"What do you mean, 'wasted time'?" Anise demanded, glaring daggers at Luke.

"I mean wasted time," Luke retorted, "We don't need Ion anymore. War won't start as long as I'm around."

"You moron!" Anise yelled at him.

"Seriously, Luke," Alex added, "I knew you were dense, but come on."

"H-hey!"

Tear crossed her arms, "Even I thought that was arrogant."

"This peace is based on the respect the Malkuth Emperor and Father have for the Fon Master. Without Ion there would be no mediator."

"No. It's not that either country holds respect for me. They merely want Yulia's Score. I'm not really needed."

"I can't agree with you there," Guy shrugged, "You carry weight as a deterrent, Ion. Even if you do owe it to Yulia's Score."

Jade pushed his glasses up his nose, "I see. You're all still young. So, how about we get going now?" He didn't wait for an answer and instead turned and walked away from them.

"How does he pull out a line like that at a time like this?" Guy asked as everyone watched him walk away, "I swear, you can never tell what that guy is thinking." As everyone started to follow Jade. Guy had his eyes on Luke's back. 'You really do need to be more careful with your words.' he thought, sighing inwardly.

"He's a little hard to forgive when he says things like that, isn't he?" Alex asked, Guy didn't realize she was standing next to him, and he jumped away a few feet.

"What? I wasn't even that close to you!"

"S-sorry. You just took me by surprise."

"Thinking about something?"

"Yeah, I was thinking about what Luke said too."

She nodded, "Even when you think about how sheltered he's been, he still really shouldn't have said that."

"Well..." Guy started, scratching the back of his head, "Luke's Luke I guess. There's really not a whole lot we can do about it."

Alex laughed slightly, "Hey, random question. Do you ever have those moments where you'll be thinking something that some people may find weird or random or whatever, and then you stop and think, 'Oh man, what if someone can hear my thoughts right now?'"

From in front of them, Guy could slightly hear Jade chuckle a little.

"You know," Guy replied, "I've had those moments a lot more often since meeting Jade."

Alex laughed, "Yeah, I can get that."

Everyone except for Jade all turned their heads to look at them, expressions somewhere between confused and entertained on their faces.

"Wh-what?" Alex asked, "Did we say something weird?"

"If anyone said something weird it was you," Guy shrugged as Alex rolled her eyes, "Why did you ask anyway?"

"Well excuse me for trying to keep us entertained. This trip would go a lot faster if we talked more rather than walking in complete silence all the time, you know. I hate to sound like Luke, but it gets boring."

"Hey!"

"I agree whole heartedly," Jade said, to everyone's surprise, "Though I assure you, you needn't worry about me reading your thoughts. Even I'm not capable of that.

But while we're on the topic of having something to discuss as we walk, I've noticed that this road is in surprisingly good condition."

"Yeah, I guess it is," Guy agreed. Now that he mentioned it, all the roads were clear of rocks and the bridges were mostly in tact, "Especially since it's not really used anymore."

"How come?" Luke asked.

"This road was in operation back when Akzeriuth was part of Kimlasca," Guy explained.

"Since Malkuth took it from us, there's been no reason for us to keep it maintained," Natalia concluded.

Jade adjusted his glasses, "But if Akzeriuth is Kimlasca's next target, it would certainly make sense to clean it up..."

"And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" Natalia demanded, outraged.

"I said 'if'," Jade replied, "It certainly doesn't appear to have seen any recent work. The fact that it still remains in such good condition speaks well for the Kimlascan engineers who constructed it."

Natalia calmed down, "You have a most...trying way of putting things."

Jade laughed slightly, "I suppose I do. I'll try to be more careful."

"That...wasn't exactly my idea of entertaining," Alex sighed, "But I guess it works."

They continued along the road for a few moments, and were forced to stop halfway up a large hill when Ion fell to his knees in exhaustion.

"Ion!" Anise cried as she ran to his side as he gasped for breath.

"Are you all right?" Tear asked him.

"We could always rest for a few minutes," Alex suggested.

Ion shook his head, "No...I'm fine."

"No! You have to rest," Anise protested, "We're taking a break, everyone!"

"A break?" Luke asked, "What are you talking about? Master Van's gone on ahead!"

"Luke!" Natalia said, rounding on him, "There's no harm in resting a little!"

"A few minutes aren't going to hurt anyone," Alex agreed.

"But he just said he didn't need to rest!"

"This is a tough mountain path, Luke," Guy told him, "There's nothing we can do."

Luke glared at them all, "I'm the ambassador! If I say we go, we go!"

They all just stared at him.

Anise was shaking with anger, "L-listen you!"

Jade interrupted her before she could say anything else, "Let's get some rest. Ion I trust that's all right with you?"

"Hey!" Luke exclaimed, looking shocked and annoyed that he was being ignored again.

"I'm sorry to be a burden, Luke..." Ion said.

When Luke looked at Ion he must have realized just how tired the Fon Master actually looked. "Tch...Fine. But just for a little."

Ion thanked him and the group made their way up the rest of the hill so they could rest. Once they reached an appropriate place they all sat down. Luke wandered away from the rest of them, probably to silently fume about how he didn't get his way. After a few moments, Tear got up and walked over to him. The rest of them watched as they argued.

"Amazing," Alex suddenly said.

"What is?" Natalia asked.

"We've been dealing with Luke for years and had no success with him, and then Tear comes along and in a mere few weeks she's got him whipped! How did she do that?"

Natalia didn't look too pleased with the topic. It was probably jealousy.

Guy laughed, "Yeah, I wondered the same thing when I met her too. I wouldn't bring it up around her though, she doesn't like it..."

"Why?" Alex asked, "What would she even do if I did bring it up?"

"Well... I don't know what she would do to you, but she hugged me..." he replied, shuddering at the memory.

Alex laughed.

"It's not funny!"

"Alright," Alex replied, wiping tears of mirth out of her eyes, "Okay, I'm sorry."

"I don't think you have the right to laugh at Luke about being whipped anyway, Guy," Anise shrugged, "You seem to be the same way with Alex."

Guy forced a laugh while Alex blushed beside him, "Well yeah, I am her servant, Anise."

"That's true," Ion said, "But it doesn't seem like that has anything to do with it."

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked.

"Our relationship is the same as the one I have with Luke," Guy said.

"Oh?" Anise asked slyly, "I haven't seen you flirt with Luke before..."

Jade laughed as Guy started to blush alongside Alex.

"We're not flirting!" Guy protested, "Besides, I have a phobia remember? How would that ever work?"

"Aww, come on!" Anise said, "I think it's sweet! Alex falling in love with her servant, and the whole phobia thing is a great obstacle for you to overcome! It's like something right out of a romantic novel!"

Alex face-palmed.

"...I think we've rested long enough," Natalia said, standing up. They watched as she began to walk away, Luke and Tear looked up from their argument. "Well? Stop dawdling. We must hurry to Akzeriuth."

The others sighed as they got up and began to follow her.

"You should keep in mind, Anise," Natalia said, gaining the young girl's attention, "That Alex is a noble. A member of the Kimlascan royal family. It simply would not do to have her start a relationship with a servant."

"O-okay..." Anise replied, clearly not understanding why Natalia was being so cross with her. Guy didn't fully understand either, he was pretty sure Anise was just trying to bug them.

"Yeah... _Still_ not the entertainment I had in mind."

* * *

"Stop!"

And they were so close to the exit...

The group looked up to see who had told them to stop, and they saw another member of the God-Generals standing atop the cliff they were next to. Couldn't they just leave them alone?

"Tear, why do you continue to spend time with those people?" Legretta the Quick demanded, her two guns pointed at different group members.

"I'm under orders from Grand Maestro Mohs," Tear explained quickly, "What about you? Why are you kidnapping Ion and traveling to the Sephiroth?"

"To win freedom and free will for human beings," Legretta replied simply.

"What do you mean...?" Tear asked.

"This world is completely controlled by the Score. People read the Score for everything they do. It controls their lives. Don't you think that's wrong?"

"The Score doesn't exist to control people," Ion protested, "It's merely a tool to help people follow the correct path."

"Perhaps for you, Fon Master, but other people depend on the Score. It controls them. The worst cases consult the Score to see what they have for dinner. You are no different."

"We don't go that far, but..." Anise replied, "If the Score tells the future then it's best to live as it says..."

"The Score you get read on your birthday is a useful reference," Guy added.

"In the end, relying on the Score makes life easier," Jade finished with a shrug.

"That's what I'm talking about," Legretta told them, "This world is mad. Somebody has to change it." She turned to face Tear once again, "Tear! Join us."  
Guy wondered just what her connection to Tear was.

"I still don't trust my brother," Tear said, shaking her head, "And you're his loyal partner. Until my suspicions toward him are cleared, I can't return to you."

"I see...That is unfortunate. At the very least, get away from that reject!"

"Reject?" Luke demanded, "You talking about me?"

Something about what Legretta said seemed to have triggered something in Jade's mind. He ran forward, "So it was you people who resurrected that forbidden technology!"

"Jade, no!" Ion shouted, "There are some things people are better off not knowing."

"Ion... You knew?"

Jade seemed to be legitimately angry, and something about that concerned Guy greatly.

"What?" Luke demanded, "Stop leaving me out of the conversation! What are you talking about? It's something to do with me, right?"

Jade ignored him and returned his glare back to Legretta, "Whose idea was it? Was it Dist's?"

"Are you talking about fomicry? What good would it do you to know? The die has been cast, Necromancer."

Before they could stop her, there was a bright flash and she was gone.

"Over my dead body!" Jade shouted, his outburst surprising everyone.

Anise seemed the most surprised by it, "The colonel's actually really angry about something..."

"It's nothing of importance," Jade said, though he still looked angry.

"After that display, I doubt it." Guy said.

"No kidding..." Alex agreed.

"Forgive me for my outburst, but it's nothing you should be worried about now," Jade continued, "For now, let's hurry to Akzeriuth."

...

"W-whoa..."

When Alex heard that Akzeriuth was having a problem with the miasma, this wasn't what she had in mind. There were people lying, barely alive, on the ground all around the town. The miasma was everywhere too; the air around the group was nothing but a thick, purple haze of the deadly poison.

"This is horrible..." Anise said in barely a whisper, covering her mouth as Natalia ran to the closest collapsed person to see if she could help at all. "I had no idea it was this bad."

"Natalia, get away from him. You'll catch something." After all of the insensitive comments he had made over the past few days, no one was particularly surprised that Luke had said this. That didn't mean that they were alright with him saying it though.

"What am I going to catch?" Natalia asked, appalled. "We came here so we could help these people, so why shouldn't we try and ease their pain?"

"I agree," Jade said, "Let's split up and see if there are any individuals we can help. I'll go speak to the mayor in the meantime and find out what we need to do."

While everyone agreed, Luke mumbled something about him being the ambassador, and Alex knew she heard "Master Van" in there somewhere too. She looked at Guy and sighed. He nodded at her knowingly.

"Come on, Luke," he said, "Let's go see what we can do."

"Good call." Alex thought as they walked away. Knowing Luke, he would probably do more harm than good if left on his own.

As she walked around the portion of the town she was told to check, Alex began to feel more and more helpless. She wasn't a Seventh Fonist, so she couldn't heal anyone in pain. As she wandered around she tried to think of other ways she could help.

"Maybe I could help move people to a place with less miasma? But there's so much of it... It wouldn't do any good."

"You guys are going to help us, right?"

The sudden noise caught Alex off guard, after all the fighting of the past few days, she had to force herself not to draw her sword as she turned to see who had spoken to her. She relaxed when she saw it was a small boy. He looked younger than Anise. One of his pant sleeves was rolled and torn and his shirt was untucked, but he at least looked healthier than most of the tragic people she'd seen in the town so far. Alex knelt down so she could speak to him face to face.

"We're going to do our best," she replied, trying to smile. It was hard though, being in the situation she was in.

"All I wanted to do was visit my daddy..." His eyes were welling up. "I want t-to go home."

"Where are you from?" Alex asked, starting to feel uncomfortable. "You said you were visiting your daddy? Where is he now?"

"I live in Engeve with my mommy. Daddy works here in the mines, s-so I came to visit him. He's in the mines right now with some other guys, b-but a bunch of knights just went down there so I'm w-worried." He choked out through sobs, trying to wipe his tears away.

Alex was now extremely uncomfortable with the situation, she wasn't used to being around crying children. Desperate for some way to get him to stop, she tried to console him.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

"J-John."

"Well, John, I'm Alex. My friends and I are going to help you, okay? Your daddy too."

He nodded, still crying. "P-promise?"

"Promise," she smiled, holding out her pinky. The second John reached out and wrapped his small pinky around hers, Alex had a really bad feeling. She felt like she wouldn't be able to keep that promise.

"Alex!" she turned her head to see Anise waving at her a few feet away, Ion by her side. "The colonel says we're going to the mines now, come on!"

Alex shook the feeling away and turned back to John, "We're going to go help your daddy now, alright? I need you to stay here."

He nodded as she got up and walked over to Anise and Ion.

"Jade and the others are waiting for us outside the mine," Ion explained when Alex reached them.

As Alex was following the other two to the specific mine they were headed to, she noticed there were a lot of mines in Akzeriuth. If it weren't for the group of people standing outside of the fourteenth mine, they probably wouldn't know which one to go into. As they approached the group of people, it became apparent that they all had a mixed expression of worry and determination on their faces. Everyone except for Luke, who, despite the small, out of place smile playing across his lips, looked bored. Alex was worried he'd screw things up.

'Maybe that's why everyone else is worried...' she thought.

"Now that everyone is here," Jade said as Alex, Anise, and Ion joined the group. Everyone else was already there. "Shall we proceed?"  
Everyone nodded, but the group was delayed once more.

"Locrian Sergeant Grants!" an Oracle Knight yelled, running towards them, "I was asked to report to you," he continued as Tear turned her attention to him. "One of our knights has found what they think may be the Seventh Fonstone."

"Good job," Tear replied.

"Tear," Jade said, "Please go and check on that. The rest of us will go into the mine. We really can't afford any more delays at this moment."

"That's fine, Colonel."

While Tear left with the Oracle Knight, the rest of the group went into the mine. The miasma was much worse in the mine than it was outside. According to what Jade was told, it was also worse in there than it was in any other mine.

"Supposedly," Jade said, as the group made their way through mine, "A group of miners was down here when the miasma hit. Honestly, it would be a miracle if all of them survived."

Alex really hoped that they would all make it; she really wanted to keep her promise to John.

Apparently how worried she was about the whole thing showed on her face.

"Miss Alexandra?" Ion asked, "Is something wrong."

"Huh?" she asked, startled. She was shocked and confused about his formality. Guy could obviously tell, he was laughing slightly at her reaction to it. "No, I'm fine. And please, just call me Alex. I always feel weird when someone addresses me that formally."

"Alright," Ion replied, "Alex, you looked worried about something."

"I'm just worried about the miners," Alex replied, "You can't really say I'm the only one, right?"

"That is true," Natalia said, nodding, "I'm worried as well. We should hurry."

It didn't take as long as they had thought they would to find their way to the miners. They weren't greeted very happily. In fact, they weren't greeted at all. All of them had obviously been effected greatly by the miasma; they had all collapsed, and they were barely breathing. Everyone immediately split up, each going to the side of a different miner to see if they could help. Everyone except for Luke, who was left with Mieu, Jade and Ion to babysit him.

Not long after they had made it to the miners, a commotion broke out somewhere above them. Jade left to see if he could help at all. Out of the corner of her eye, Alex saw Luke, Ion, and Mieu leaving the room they were all in.

"I'm not sure I like that... But Ion's with him, he should stop him from doing anything stupid." Even as she thought it she had a bad feeling about the situation, but she was forced to shake it off as Natalia called for her assistance across the room.

The group continued with what they were doing for about a half an hour, until they were interrupted when the ground started to tremble slightly.

"What's going on?" Anise yelled, shocked.

"Hey!" Guy shouted, "Where are Luke and Ion?"

"That idiot..." Alex thought, "He's causing this, isn't he?"

Just as the ground started to really shake, the God-General Alex recognized as Asch came rushing through the room, Tear and Jade on his heels.

"Don't just stand there!" Asch yelled, "Come on! That dreck you call Luke is going to destroy Akzeriuth!"

"What?" Anise, Natalia, Guy, and Alex all asked in tandem.

"It's my brother!" Tear yelled as the ground's shaking began to grow more violent, "He's using Luke's Hyperresonance to destroy Akzeriuth!"

"We don't have time for chit-chat!" Jade said, as Asch ran ahead of the group, "Let's go!"

They didn't need telling twice, the group quickly ran in the direction Asch had gone. Thankfully the room Luke and Ion had gone to wasn't too far from where they were.

It was a beautiful room compared to the rest of the mines, and it looked like it could be from the Dawn Age. If they weren't in such a hurry, Alex would have liked to stay and examine the place a bit more. But as the structures around them began to fall apart as the shaking got worse, the group had to run as fast as they could to get to Luke. He wasn't much farther away.

From a short distance, Asch could be seen shouting at Van, the shaking had gotten too violent for any of his words to be heard. Luke was behind Van, holding his arms ahead of him, a tremendous beam of light coming from them. Alex assumed that it had to be the hyperresonance Tear was talking about earlier. It was extremely powerful; Alex had to admit it would have been awesome if it wasn't potentially going to kill them all.

After a few more quick words from Van, two enormous birds flew into the room. They picked up Van and Asch, the latter trying to fight his way out of the bird's grip.

"I intended to use that one for the Fon Master," Van said, "But I can't afford to let you die."

"Van!" Tear shouted, looking beyond angry.

"This is unfortunate, Mystearica. I had hoped for you to live."

With that, the two birds flew off with Van and Asch. In front of the group, Luke collapsed; Guy quickly ran to get him.

"Everyone come close to me!" Tear shouted, as Guy came back, holding Luke upright. The ground around them was beginning to fall apart. "I'll sing a Fonic Hymn!"

As she sang, a barrier appeared around them.

Alex had never been this scared in her entire life. She had no idea what was going to happen. She knew she wasn't going to be able to keep her promise to John. 'John... I wonder what happened to him... No, don't think about that. This is all Luke's fault! I swear, I'll kill that idiot as soon as this is over!'

"Whoa!" Anise yelled as they began to fall.

"Is the ground...falling?"

Alex didn't hear or see any more after that, she passed out.

"Alex!" someone was shouting, "Alex, come on. Wake up!"

"Guy...?"

"Oh, good. You're alright."

When Alex opened her eyes, she was greeted by a rather unpleasant scene.

"W-where are we?..."

The place looked horrible, to say the least. The sky was a deep shade of purple, with clouds of miasma everywhere you looked. As soon as the small piece of land the group was on ended, a sea of what appeared to be thick mud and miasma began. Somehow the Tartarus had managed to make it unharmed; it was beside the land the group was on. It truly was a sturdy craft.

"I'll explain everything later. Let's check if anyone else survived."

Only then did Alex realize that there were plenty of bodies around them. None of them appeared to be alive. She felt a fresh rush of anger flow through her, but decided she would take it out on Luke later. For now, she had to see if there were any survivors at all.

"Hey!" Guy yelled suddenly, pointing ahead of him. "Over there!"

Alex turned her gaze in the direction he was pointing. The anger she had felt seconds before was quickly replaced with horror and sadness as she felt her stomach fall.

"John..." she whispered, covering her mouth with her hands as tears sprang to her eyes.

He was floating on a small piece of wood in the sea of miasma.

"We have to help him!" Natalia said. She started to head in the direction as if she was going to try to swim to where he was. Tear grabbed her wrist before she could.

"Stop. You'll be swallowed by the miasma. Let's try healing artes from here. They might reach."

Just as she finished saying it, the wood John was lying on began to sink, him along with it.

"Mommy... It hurts," John whimpered, "Daddy, it hurts..."

Guy attempted to reach him, but a lurch in the ground made him fall over. "Dammit!" he yelled, punching the ground in anger as John was swallowed by the miasma.

Alex's vision was blurry from her own tears, but she could tell from the sharp intakes of breath coming from beside her that Natalia was crying as well.

"If we stay here we'll be swallowed as well," Jade said urgently, "Let's board the Tartarus, it's managing to stay above the mud."

Everyone boarded the Tartarus, and things were only made more depressing when they did. There were bodies strewn everywhere, Malkuth and Oracle soldiers, as well as gryffins and ligers. Blood stained the walls and floors of the landship, and its coppery stench was in the air.

Alex forced herself not to think about John and the overwhelming stench of rotting corpses and blood coupled with the miasma that made her feel the need to vomit, and wiped away her tears. She covered her mouth and nose with her hands and noticed that most of the others were doing the same. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Natalia was still crying. It wasn't exactly surprising, Natalia always did have a soft side, and no one could blame her for crying right now.

They made their way to the bridge, and Alex was relieved to find that the stench wasn't nearly as bad in there as it was outside.

Ion and Anise were on one side of the room looking depressed about what had just happened, Guy wasn't too far away from them, and he had a dark look on his face. Luke was off in one corner with Mieu, away from everyone else; he looked almost broken.

"There's a place called Yulia City in the Qliphoth. It shouldn't be too far off from here. To the west. Let's head there."

"You seem to know a lot about this place," Jade said, "I'd like to ask some questions once we're safe."

They drove in the direction Tear had said for a couple hours, but all they ever saw was the sea of mud and miasma and the clouds of purple above it. They were getting more and more depressed with every second. Alex was sure they were all going to die here. They left the bridge and stood on the deck leading to it, overlooking the sea of death.

"No matter how far we go, there's nothing in sight..." Guy said, breaking the silence, "Are we really underground right now?"

Everyone turned to Tear, since she seemed to be the one who knew about this place."

"In a way..." she explained, "The place you live in is known down here as the 'Outer Lands' - the world's outer shell. It's a floating land supported by pillars called Sephiroth Trees' that extend from the Qliphoth."

"I never imagined I'd come to the Qliphoth like this..." Ion said.

"I don't understand," Natalia said.

"Long ago, the Outer Lands were here in the Qliphoth."

"No way..." Alex said.

"Unbelievable..." Anise agreed.

"Two thousand years ago the miasma enveloped Auldrant and infected the land. That is when Yulia read the seven-part Score, finding a way to avoid destruction and bring prosperity."

"Based on the Score," Ion added, "Yulia proposed a way to raise the planet's crust using the Sephiroth."

"And that was the beginning of the Outer Land, huh?" Guy asked, "That's quite a story..."

"Yes. Only maestros and above in the Order know. As do those born in the Qliphoth."

"Then, you're from the Qliphoth, Tear?" Anise asked, eye wide.

"...At any rate, we've fallen down here," Ion said, "We were saved thanks to Tear's hymn."

"Why did this happen?" Jade asked, "You said Akzeriuth was supported by a pillar correct?"

"Yes, but...that pillar disintegrated..."

Everyone turned to look at Luke.

I didn't know anything about it, I was just trying to neutralize the miasma! He told me that if I caused a hyperresonance there, the miasma would disappear!"

My brother deceived you, and you destroyed the pillar supporting Akzeriuth."

I wish Luke had at least discussed this with us before hand," Jade sighed, "Neutralizing the miasma could have at least waited until after the residents were evacuated. Of course, there's little point in saying this now."

So you think this is my fault?"

"Just a _little_ bit," Alex replied sarcastically, holding her thumb and forefinger barely a centimeter apart. She didn't bother trying to suppress her glare.

Natalia sighed, "A thousand lives, lost in an instant."

"It's not my fault!" Luke shouted, "It's not! Master Van- Yeah! Master Van made me do it! It's Master Van's fault."

Jade sighed again, but instead of saying anything, he walked towards the door leading to the bridge.

"Colonel?" Tear asked.

"I'm returning to the bridge, if I stay here I may be irritated by some ridiculous ranting," he said before opening the door and disappearing behind it.

"Ever since you lost your memory," Natalia started angrily, tears still falling down her face, "You're like a completely different person! I can't believe you would do something like this!" She gave him a glare before following Jade.

"I can't believe I thought there was some good in you," Tear stated simply, before leaving as well.

"You all couldn't do anything either!" Luke shouted at the remaining group members.

"That's true-"

"Don't bother, Ion," Anise interrupted, grabbing his hand and pulling him away, "He isn't worth it. Let's go."

"Guy?..." Luke asked hopefully.

"Don't make me think even less of you," he replied.

"I can't believe I'm related to you," Alex said harshly, before she and Guy joined the others.

* * *

If it wasn't such a bad situation, Alex knew Guy would have gone crazy over the amount of fontech in Yulia City. But instead, he, as well as everyone else, was unusually quiet as the group entered the city. Luke, who was already a small distance away from the rest as he followed, stopped in the middle of the road to the town center. If he looked broken before, it was nothing compared to how he looked now. At the moment though, nobody except Mieu, who was still by his side, and maybe Ion seemed to care. They just continued on their way.

Tear sighed heavily before stopping and facing him, "What are you waiting for?" she asked Luke harshly.

"All you guys will do is ignore me anyway," Luke replied. "I don't want to go."

Alex was fine with the idea. She could use some time away from him. She was forced to stop though, when she saw someone running towards Luke with his sword drawn. When the attacker came closer, she saw it was Asch.

"You dreck!" he yelled as Luke drew his own sword. They began clashing blades. "I told you to stop! Are all replica brains that defective?"

"Replica? Master Van used the word replica too... What are you talking about?" Luke asked, looking scared and worried.

"You still haven't figured it out have you?" Asch sneered as he stepped back from Luke.

"Asch, stop!" Tear yelled.

The rest of the group had turned around and started watching the exchange by this time. Would the drama never end?

Why do you think you and I have the same face?" Asch asked, "Why do you think I can contact you in your head? It's because you're my replica. A perfect copy of me."


	7. Mirrors

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss.**_

* * *

_Chapter 7: Mirrors_

Alex didn't know what to think anymore. _Asch_ was her brother? Granted she liked him a lot more than Luke at the moment. And considering Asch was a God-General, and therefore part of a group that had caused several problems for her and the others so far, that was saying a lot. But she also knew that no matter how angry she was with Luke, seven years of memories proved that he was her brother as well.

She sighed and leaned against the railing a small distance from Tear's house, staring into the sea of miasma below.

Luke had passed out too, after he had thrown up when Asch gave him the news that he was his original. Alex didn't fully understand why when Luke passed out, he hadn't woken up even after a few hours. Maybe it was the shock mixed in with the exhaustion they all felt? He was more affected by everything than anyone else.

As if the Asch and Luke drama wasn't enough, she was still unbelievably frustrated with herself about John's death. She finally understood why she had that bad feeling the entire time they were in Akzeriuth, and decided that the next time she got a feeling like that, she would act on it. She never wanted something like that to happen again.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Asch leaving Tear's house, and she turned her head to watch him. He approached Natalia, who was a few feet away, and she started talking to him about something, she couldn't hear what.

Was she blushing? Natalia indeed turned a slight shade of pink as she spoke to Asch._  
_

It did make sense for Natalia to be so happy. She finally had her Luke, the boy with whom she had made the promise she never stopped talking about, back. The real question was if Asch would still want to be with her if she had spent the last few years thinking Luke was really him. That was a pretty major mistake, even if it wasn't just Natalia who made it.

Alex turned her gaze back to the railing she was leaning on. She wasn't really looking at it; her mind was too focused on the conversation she had had with Asch earlier on, just after Luke had passed out.

Luke...

Even with how angry she was at him about Akzeriuth, Alex couldn't help but feel sympathy for him. It was strange, but she felt more sympathy for him than for Asch, and the latter was the one that had his entire life stolen from him. It was all she could think about when she was speaking to him.

* * *

_"Umm... Asch?" Alex felt strangely awkward around him._

_"What is it?" he asked, somewhat coldly. Alex wondered if he could say anything without sounding at least a little harsh. She couldn't blame him for it though, it was understandable for him to be angry with the world around him after what had happened; he had his whole life stolen from him for Yulia's sake! Nonetheless, Alex still flinched slightly when he responded to her._

_"Umm, well nothing really. I was just wondering..." she paused, not fully understanding why she was so hesitant around him._

_Asch was obviously getting fed up waiting for her to continue, "Spit it out already! What do you want?"_

_Even though he said it rather harshly, and he sounded annoyed, Alex could tell from the expression on his face that he was slightly amused._

_"I was wondering," she continued, "If you're going to be helping us now... I mean, you tried to stop Van in Akzeriuth."_

_"I have no intentions of getting friendly with that replica, if that's what you're suggesting."_

_"Of course not-"_

_He cut across her before she could continue, "I work alone. I don't want to work for Van any more, not after what just happened, but I won't be running around with you all either. Why do you care what I do anyway?"_

_"Oh, I already have a hard time fighting people; I'd rather not have to fight family too-"_

_"I'm not your brother," he said harshly, cutting across her again._

_"Huh?"_

_"I'm no longer Luke fon Fabre," he continued, "That replica is. You've already acknowledged that, considering you still call me Asch. I don't have a family anymore, I lost them all to that dreck everyone's calling Luke."_

_Alex didn't care what he said; she was still going to think of him as her brother, even if she did feel extremely uncomfortable around him._

_"Why are you acting so weird?" he asked her._

_"What do you mean?"_

_"What I mean," he sighed, annoyed, "Is that I've seen how you act around everyone in your group. You're always cheerful and lively. From what I've seen you joke around and laugh a lot. Not once have I seen you act this pathetic."_

_Alex rolled her eyes at him. "Thanks," she replied sarcastically, "That means a lot."_

_He smirked at that, which made Alex feel even more awkward._

_"Are you going to answer my question?" he asked, "Why are you acting so weird? Am I really so intimidating that you would start acting this pathetic?_

_"I don't know what it is," she replied lamely, avoiding his gaze._ _"But I don't think it has anything to do with intimidation, so don't flatter yourself."_

* * *

She really didn't think it had to do with intimidation, but she didn't know what it was. It just felt strange speaking to Asch. Alex couldn't help but feel that it was somehow wrong. She couldn't place her finger on it, but something definitely felt off about him. Luke and Asch may have been mirror images of each other, but they were by no means the same person. When she was speaking to him, Alex noticed that Asch's eyes were just as cold and distant as his demeanor. But with Luke, even when he was complaining about how bored he was, his eyes were still full of life.

The whole thing frustrated her beyond belief. She didn't know who she liked more after thinking about them both for a was a horrible person. They were both her brothers, it wasn't right to choose which one she liked more. But for the moment she favored Asch more because he tried to help Akzeriuth. Luke didn't care about it, he even destroyed it, whether unintentionally or not. Thousands of lives were lost in an instant because of his blind admiration of Van.

She shook her head disapprovingly. But if she forgot about Akzeriuth, Luke was better because she could actually have some fun with him. It was always so easy to mess with his head. She couldn't do that with Asch, he was too...boring. Not to mention he would probably threaten to kill her or something if she even tried to bug him. He sent chills down everyone's spines just by looking at them. But for some reason it looked like Natalia was immune to that.

Alex wasn't... In fact, he kind of scared her.

Wait... She was scared of her own brother? What the hell was wrong with her?

She couldn't take it any more, it was all too much.

"Where's a pillow when you need one?" she sighed as she buried her face in her hands. She didn't think about where she was, or how many people were in the area, she let it all out in the form of a frustrated cry.

Everything was silent for a while until-

"Uh... Are you alright?" someone asked from behind her; she recognized the voice instantly.

Alex froze; she had completely forgotten she was in the middle of the street. She wasn't usually the type to get embarrassed, but as she turned around to face Guy she could practically feel her cheeks growing redder every second. He looked both confused and worried.

Why was it _he_ was always around when she had those stupid moments? She looked around the area, hoping that there weren't too many people around to witness her embarrassing moment. There were only a couple of bystanders, looking at her confusedly. Natalia and Asch had left at some point. Honestly, of all the people in their group to be around. That thought only caused her cheeks to grow redder.

Damn it! Blushing was not what she needed!

"Hello?" Guy asked with a laugh, waving a hand in front of her face as close as he could without freaking out. "Alex? You in there?"

"Umm, yeah," she replied lamely, her cheeks still a brilliant shade of red. Her response caused Guy to laugh even louder.

"W-what's so funny?"

"Nothing," Guy replied smiling. "Your face just matches your hair. You look like a tomato." His smile grew into his usual boyish grin, causing Alex to blush even more.

"Shut up!" she said, sounding rather like Luke would. "I do not!" She was sure it was true though. If she looked in a mirror, she was positive she would see a very red Alex looking back at her.

Guy continued laughing for a little while longer. "Sorry," he said when he regained his composure. "But back to before... What was that all about?"

"...I don't know," Alex replied quietly, her eyes on her feet. She was surprised at how serious they suddenly were. She continued anyway, "I guess I'm just really confused and frustrated right now. And I'm not even the one who's most affected by this! I don't really know what I'm supposed to think any more."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... Talking to Asch... It feels weird. Like I shouldn't be talking to him," she began, crossing her arms. "I don't know why. Maybe it has to do with his personality?... No, that can't be right." There was a pause, and she continued when Guy didn't say anything. "Even with how angry I am at Luke right now, he's still easier to talk to than Asch... But I still don't really feel like talking to him right now."

"You're contradicting yourself, Alex."

She looked up at the mention of her name. Some of the red came back to her cheeks as green eyes met blue. Crap. What the hell was this all of a sudden? She never used to act like this around him in the manor, when did that change?

"I already told you, I'm confused!" she said, shaking her head and trying to clear her thoughts. Guy didn't seem to notice her slight blush that time. "I mean, even though Luke's a replica and an idiot he's still my brother. He's been my brother for the past seven years, so why would that change now?"

Guy smiled at her when she said that, and continued to listen.

"But Asch still had his entire life stolen from him, and he didn't destroy Akzeriuth or anything. So basically I just found out that I have two brothers..." she buried her face in her hands again, trying to hide the frustrated tears that were now forming in her eyes.

So much had happened in the past few hours, and everything just seemed to hit Alex all at once.

The tiredness caused by the days and days of traveling and fighting for their lives.

The powerlessness she felt at Akzeriuth, the empty promise she'd made to John.

The horror she'd seen on the Tartarus. Just thinking about it, she could still smell the stench of blood and rotted flesh. Thank Yulia there was nothing in her system to throw up, or she would have vomited the second the memory came back to her.

The carnage left by Akzeriuth's destruction, and the most confusing part of all, was the feeling that she was forgetting something important when she thought of these things. She had the overwhelming feeling that she'd seen all this before, years ago.

She just wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and be left alone where the world couldn't touch her for a while.

"I just...don't know what to do right now."

Guy was suddenly looking a lot more worried. Alex's attempt to hide her tears had obviously failed.

"Hey, it's alright," he said to her, looking extremely uncomfortable, "It's understandable to be confused by a situation like this."

Alex could tell that he would be more successful in calming her down if it weren't for his phobia. Nonetheless, she had stopped crying.

"You probably just need something to do to keep your mind off things," he continued, looking relieved that her tears had stopped when she looked up at him. "Jade says that Tear's grandfather knows how we can get back to the Outer Lands. Everyone's waiting for us in the council room, alright?"

Alex nodded, it made sense. Of course there was no point in thinking about it too much, that would only drive her insane. "You're right," she said, "Sorry about that display..."

He smiled at her, "It's alright. That's a lot of information to process in a really short time, anybody in that position would get stressed out."

"Thanks," she said, smiling back at him, "Let's go then."

Together they made their way to the council room. Yulia City wasn't exactly huge, so it didn't take too long. It was the first real opportunity for Alex to get a good look at the place. When she was looking around she realized that there was a lot of fon tech everywhere. Even the doors weren't actually doors. They were more like waterfalls of light. The place was truly magnificent, she was sure any machine buff would go insane just looking at the place.

"Hey," she said when the two of them were just outside the room, just as Guy went to go through the door, "I just thought of something."  
Guy turned his head towards her, a questioning look on his face. "What's up?"

"This place has tons of fon machines," she said, Guy smiled nervously at that, "Shouldn't you be really excited about all that right now?"

"There's a lot going on right now," he replied simply, "It would be disrespectful to get excited about everything right now, when everyone's so upset about Akzeriuth. I mean, I'm upset about too. I didn't really even realize there was this much fon tech until you pointed it out..."

Alex raised an eyebrow at him, she could tell he was lying, "It's driving you crazy, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." he answered, scratching the back of his head. "You know me pretty well, huh?"

"Duh, I've known you for ten years," she laughed. It felt like it was the first time she'd laughed in years.

Her laughing had made Guy smile again.

"We should probably go in," Alex said, pointing towards the door. "They're waiting for us, right?"  
Guy agreed, and they entered the room.

"There you are," Jade said as they entered. He continued before they could apologize for taking so long. "We've been waiting for you. Take a seat." When they had taken their seats at the huge table he continued. "Mayor Teodoro and I have thought of a way for us to get back to the Outer Lands."

Alex quickly surveyed the room to see who 'us' was. Seated around the table were, Teodoro, Ion, Asch, and Natalia. Across from them were Jade, Anise, Guy, and herself.

No Luke or Tear. Even though she knew Luke was currently unconscious and Tear had no reason for going back up with them, she was slightly disappointed. From the corner of her eye, she could tell that Guy wasn't exactly happy about it either. His eyes were steadily rested on Asch in what could only be described as a glare. What was that about?

"The Tartarus remains operational," Jade continued. Everyone who wasn't watching him now turned their heads in his direction to pay attention. "We will be taking that back to the Outer Lands."

"How?" Anise asked.

"You will use the Sephiroth Tree," Teodoro answered as if it explained everything. When everyone looked confused he continued, "Tear has explained how the Sephiroth Trees hold up the Outer Lands, correct?"

Everyone nodded and Jade explained the rest for them in words they would all understand, "We will be using one of the Sephiroth Trees as a sort of elevator to lift the Tartarus back to the Outer Lands."

"Will it work?" Alex asked uncertainly.

"We'll find out, won't we?" Jade replied with a shrug. Nobody found it particularly funny.

Without any further ado, the group left their seats and headed for the dock. Guy was walking unusually slowly, and was therefore falling behind. Alex seemed to be the only one to notice, and she slowed down so he could catch up.

"What's up?" she asked, although she already had a good idea of what was wrong.

"We're really leaving Luke behind, then?"

"Yeah..." Alex replied awkwardly, "It feels weird, huh? I'm not liking this very much either."

"I kinda figured," he said, smiling slightly, "I'm a bit worried about there being no one here to watch him."

"Tear's here. But she's probably too fed up with him right now to look after him... She's been babysitting him more than anyone for the past month or so; I'd be shocked if she wasn't annoyed."

Guy smiled a bit more at that, but their conversation was interrupted by Anise before he could say anything.

"Alex! Guy! Hurry it up or we'll leave without you!"

"I don't know about you, but I'm worried about the war Mohs is trying to start," Alex said, nodding towards Anise, who was waving for them to hurry up, "I want to make sure everything's alright up there. Are you staying?"

"No..." he answered. "I'm worried about that too; I can find a way to come back for Luke later."

"Alright," Alex said, smiling at him, "But I get to tag along when you do go get him."

"Deal."

"Are you two coming or not?" Anise shouted from the dock.

"Sorry!" Alex called back before turning to Guy, "Come on. We're making them wait again."

Once everyone was aboard the Tartarus, they took their positions and were on their way. Jade was obviously in charge, with Asch, Anise, and Guy helping to operate it. Alex, Ion, and Natalia were left to watch, seeing as none of them knew anything about operating a ship of any kind.

It didn't take them too long to find the Sephiroth Tree they were supposed to be using. It was a pretty easy thing to find; it shone beautifully compared to the rest of the dark and depressing miasma in the Qliphoth.

It was definitely a strange feeling, being lifted from the Qliphoth to the Outer Lands. Alex wasn't too fond of the sensation, she kept thinking they were going to fall at any second, just like Akzeriuth. She felt like her stomach was falling the entire time.

Thankfully they didn't fall, and they made it safely back to the Outer Lands.

Alex was thrilled to see the blue sky again; it was so much better than the ominous clouds of miasma in the Qliphoth. But it still felt strange being back without Luke. Even Tear's absence was a little off-putting.

"It appears we managed to make it back without plummeting to our deaths," Jade said in his usual sarcastic tone, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Everyone sighed in relief, except for Asch, who looked as unimpressed as he usually was.

"Alright," Anise said, "We're back. What now?"

Nobody really had an answer for her, they were all so focused on getting back to the Outer Lands safely that they had no idea what they needed to do when they got there.

"How about Belkend?" Asch finally suggested.


	8. Falling Apart

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss, all I own is Alex.**_

* * *

_Chapter 8: Falling Apart_

"Why are we going to Belkend again?" Anise whined, "Ion and I should be going back to Daath!"

"Van made his base in Belkend," Asch answered harshly, "Since we don't know what we're doing now, we should figure out what Van's up to."

"Meaning there will be some sort of clue in the labs in Belkend," Jade said, "There was something I wanted to check out in those labs anyway. I would have suggested going if Asch hadn't."

"I want to find out what Van is up to as well, Anise," Ion said to her, a pleading look in his eyes.

"Fine," Anise pouted before giving him a pointed glare, "We'll go to Belkend. But after that I'm bringing you back to Daath!"

The entire way to Port Belkend they discussed what they were going to do about Van and the God-Generals. Alex didn't see much point in it, considering they didn't even know what Van's plans were, and discussing their plan of action would do no good until they did know, but she at least tried to participate in the conversation, unlike Guy, who looked like he didn't even care. He couldn't stop staring at Asch, and it didn't look like he was very fond of the God-General.

"As Jade said, there's a lab in Belkend." Asch said, "Van uses it as his base, and Dist goes to the labs, too."

"So Dist is involved," Jade said thoughtfully, more to himself than anyone else, "I think I might know what sort of things go on in that lab."

"We're probably thinking the same thing, Jade," Asch agreed.

"Even so," he replied, "I wish I knew what Van was up to..."

The two of them were silent for a moment before Natalia chimed in.

"So you really don't know what he's planning, Luke?" she asked Asch.

"I told you not to call me by that name," Asch replied harshly, as Guy made a noticeable twitch at the mention of Luke.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked the blonde.

"Nothing," he replied bitterly without looking at her. She could tell he was lying. Alex decided to ask him again later, when the whole group wasn't around.

Asch continued with what he was saying, "Van never really told me anything about his plans. I just blindly went along with whatever he said, and now I know it was stupid of me to do that. I had to find out about his plans for Akzeriuth by myself. If he had told me about them, I would have done more to stop that idiot you guys call Luke."

From beside her, Alex could practically feel the aura around Guy grow darker and darker with every word Asch said against Luke. So at least she knew what was bugging him. She just needed to talk to him about it, all that pent up anger wasn't going to do anybody any good. She could tell she wasn't the only one who noticed his behavior, Ion was looking at him concernedly across from him, and everyone else looked slightly uncomfortable around him; the tension around the group could be cut with a knife.

"Maybe Van knew you'd try to stop him if he told you anything?" Alex asked Asch, trying to divert everyone's attention away from Guy.

"He must have," Asch shrugged, "Or he would have told me, he keeps saying he needs me for his plans. I need to know what they are before I make a decision. Right now though, it looks like I won't be helping him anymore."

"Either way," Jade started, "If Van really has made Belkend his base, then we will possibly be able to find out what he's been doing."

"I already said that his base was in Belkend," Asch shot a quick glare at Jade, "What, you don't trust me?"

"Not particularly," Jade replied, ignoring Natalia's glare, "However, I have no choice but to go along with what you're saying as we have no leads otherwise. There's something I'd like to look into in Belkend regardless, so it doesn't hurt for us to go together."

"...Anyway," Anise said, trying to stop Natalia and Asch glaring at the colonel, "Even if the Commandant has made Belkend his base, he's still smart. He won't be leaving any important information out for other people to see."

"Which is why we'll have to get Jade to dig that information out," Alex replied, turning to Jade. "You can do that right?"

Jade shrugged, "Maybe I can, maybe I can't."

"Right..."

"So when Jade obtains the necessary information," Natalia started, "We'll know what it is Van is doing."

"We may even be able to stop him if we're lucky," Ion concluded.

"You all seem pretty optimistic," Guy said coldly before leaving the room and heading for the deck.

"Guy?" Natalia and Alex both asked.

"Forget him," Asch said. Alex felt a surge of anger towards him when he said that, "We've reached the port anyway. Come on, Natalia."

"R-right," Natalia replied hesitantly as she followed him out of the room.

"Colonel, what just happened?"

"A lady doesn't pry, Anise."

"Boo..."

"We should go," Ion said, "They'll be waiting for us. Are you coming, Alex?"

Alex was still staring at the door, confusion and worry written across her face. Guy had never acted like this before. Why would he start acting so strange now? Sure, Luke was gone, that obviously troubled him a little. But that was no reason for him to be acting so cold towards everyone. And why was it all of a sudden? He seemed fine until they got to the Outer Lands.

"Alex?"

"Yes," she replied, snapping out of her thoughts, "Sorry, I'm coming."

Anise, Ion, Jade, and Alex left the Tartarus to find the others waiting for them outside. Asch was looking very impatient, with Natalia beside him, as usual, talking to him about something. Guy was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest, a small distance away from the rest of them. He wasn't even looking in their direction.

Alex was getting fed up with his behavior, and decided then was the time to confront him about it, she was sure the others were sick of his behaviour as well. The rest of the group watched in puzzlement and, in Jade's case, amusement as Alex marched towards him; Guy nearly fell over when he noticed how close she was to him, but caught his footing and backed away from her a few feet instead.

"What's your problem?" Alex asked him angrily, ignoring the classic display of his phobia towards women. She was sure the horrible stench of rotted corpses that still lingered in the air around the Tartarus wasn't helping anyone's mood. It certainly made her feel more nauseous, and put her in a foul mood, anyway. "Everyone here's trying to stop Van, and you're making us all feel uncomfortable! You're making this way harder than it needs to be."

He just stared at her in shock as a reply; she had never yelled at him before. He had never given her a reason to.

"Look," she sighed, some of her anger fading away when she noticed his expression, "I know you're upset about Luke still being in the Qliphoth, and I get the feeling that's not all you're upset about, but could you at least try to be more tolerable? It'd make all of this a lot easier."

He looked at her, dejected, for a while longer before looking over her shoulder and at the rest of the group, who were still watching, for the most part shocked, from afar.

"You're right," he finally replied with a sigh, "Sorry."

She smiled at him. "It's all right, I probably shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm sorry, too," She turned to the rest of them, "Are we going to Belkend or not?"

"We are," Jade replied, pushing his glasses up his nose, "We were just waiting for the two of you."

"Whatever, let's just go," Asch said, annoyed as he started to walk in the direction of the port.

Once they actually left Port Belkend, it didn't take too long for them to reach the city. The group was mostly back to normal, they were still slightly uncomfortable for a little while, but they got over that quickly since Guy was acting friendly again. Though it seemed forced, and he still didn't talk too much, he was still much better than he was before. Alex figured it was because he was still worried about Luke, so she didn't think about it too much.

Belkend wasn't exactly a big city, so they didn't have much trouble finding the lab, which was the biggest building in the city. Just like Yulia City, the place was full of fon machines, except they were more modern and didn't look at all like they could be from the Dawn Age. Alex noticed that Guy didn't really seem to take notice of all this fon machinery, which told her that he still had a lot on his mind. But she was at least happy that he was acting more like his old self than he was before, even if he was still silent. Once Luke was back he'd hopefully be back to normal.

The inside of the lab was like a maze, every room looked almost exactly the same. There were even these weird platforms that made a spotlight come down on you when you stepped on them that gave Alex the creeps, she felt like she was being scanned.

Thankfully, Jade and Asch seemed to know where they were going, or they probably would have gotten lost. They made their way to a door that was labeled "Replica Lab".

So that was what Jade wanted to check out. He was probably curious about replicas.

Upon entering the door, they ran into an old man, who had a prominent mustache and white hair coming off the side of his head in spikes. The top of his head was completely hairless. He seemed shocked at the appearance of Asch.

"Luke!" he said, "No... You're Asch."

Asch seemed to recognize him as well, "So the traitor to Kimlasca still lives here in Belkend? What a joke."

"Traitor?" Alex and Natalia asked together.

"This guy was involved in my kidnapping," Asch told them.

Jade seemed particularly shocked at this statement.

"Don't tell me you're the one who broke the ban on fomicry? You've been making replicas?"

"It's just as you imagine, Jade," Asch confirmed.

"Jade?" the old man exclaimed, "The Necromancer?"

Jade ignored him, "Applying fomicry to living creatures is forbidden."

"Every fomicry researcher longs to try it at least once!" the man tried, "You're no different, Jade Curtiss. Or should I say Dr. Jade Balfour? You're the father of fomicry, you created it!"

Everyone was shocked at the words; they all turned to Jade with wide eyes.

"I won't deny it," Jade said, "I developed the theory for fomicry. But I also realized what I had done and banned it. You as a fomicry researcher should know well the fate of the first replicas of living creatures."

"A-all I did was help with Van's preservation project!" the man stuttered.

"Preservation project?" Asch asked, "What are you talking about, Spinoza?"

"You mean you don't know?" the man, apparently named Spinoza, asked. He looked shocked, "Forget I said anything - I shouldn't have mentioned it," he said before running off.

"There's no use in chasing him," Jade said, "He won't say anything anyway."

"Damn it," Asch growled as Spinoza disappeared.

They decided there wasn't much point in staying in the lab, so they made their way to the exit. Along the way, they came across a couple of workers who appeared to be having a problem.

"This is no use," one of them sighed, "We're out of fonimin. We can't make replicas without it."

They all stopped at the mention of replicas.

"Already?" the other man replied, "But the next trip to Ortion Cavern is a ways off."

"Having to go all the way to Radessia sure is a pain, huh?"

Alex smiled at that last sentence; she really was beginning to miss Luke, even if he always was a pain in the ass.

Jade continued moving after the two men finished their conversation, the rest of them followed him.

They began discussing what they had found outside of the lab.

"Why is Van gathering replica data?" Natalia asked. "What is he planning?"

"If he's gathering replica data, then I guess he's going to make replicas," Anise replied, placing a finger on her chin in thought.

"...We're going to Ortion Cavern," Asch announced.

"Why?" Natalia asked.

"I presume he wants to investigate the replica issue," Jade answered, "Fonimin can be gathered there. And..."

"And...?" Alex asked.

"Dist is likely to have gone there. It's a logical place for him to steal replica data. We can at least find out who or what Van is trying to replicate."

"Enough talk," Asch said harshly, "Let's get going."

"Do you really think we should go, Ion?" Anise asked him, looking like she really didn't want to go.

"Yes. For now, let's do as Asch says," he replied.

"I'm getting off here," Guy said. Alex wasn't altogether surprised, nor was Jade by the looks of it; everyone else was.

"Why?" Asch asked.

"I'm worried about Luke," he replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I don't believe you!" Anise shouted, hands on her hips, "Who cares about that idiot?"

"I do," he said simply, "Because he's an idiot. I don't know what he'd do alone. And... I have faith he can get past this."

"Guy! You're Luke's attendant and his friend. The real Luke is right here," Natalia tried.

"This may be the real Luke. But my friend is that idiot."

Alex smiled at him. "Sorry guys, but I agree with him on this one," she turned to Guy and added, "I'm going with you, like I said in Yulia City. You won't be getting rid of me any time soon."

He smiled and nodded at her.

"Alex!" Natalia gasped, appalled. "_This_ is your real brother."

"All I learned in Yulia City is that I have two brothers."

"But-"

"Let them go, Natalia," Asch said before turning to Guy and Alex. "You can get to Yulia City through Yulia road. It's located in Aramis Spring, Northwest of Daath."

"Thanks," they both replied.

"I figured you'd choose the replica," Asch said to Guy, "I have to say I'm a bit surprised at you though," he added to Alex.

"Did Van tell you?" Guy asked him, to Alex's confusion, "Well... That's not the only reason."

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked him.

"Nothing important, let's go."

She nodded, then turned towards everyone else, "See you."

Then they left. Alex wasn't totally sure if she'd see them again. She knew she'd see Natalia for sure, but the rest of them she didn't know about. They hadn't gotten that close, but she would still miss them.

"So... We probably could have avoided all this traveling if we had just separated from the group at Port Belkend," Alex said. She was hoping Guy wouldn't be as silent as he had been over the past few hours. It would just be awkward if he was.

"That's true..." Guy replied, "But then we wouldn't have found out about Van."

"All we know is that he's planning on making a bunch of replicas. That doesn't do us any good anyway. Besides, they would have known, and they're probably going to find out more in that cavern. They would tell us if they thought it was that important."

"Huh... I guess that's true too. Sorry for dragging you around then."

"Why? I told you I wanted to come. Besides, it's not really a big deal anyway."

"Then why'd you mention it?"

She shrugged, "I dunno, conversation starter?"

"What kind of a conversation starter is that?" he laughed, making her smile. He was already starting to act like himself again, probably because they were going to get Luke.

"A good one? We're having a conversation aren't we? It obviously worked."

"Cute," he smirked.

"Get used it," she laughed. "You'll be spending plenty of time with me over the next couple days, considering it'll be a while before we get to Aramis Spring. But then again we've pretty much spent our entire lives together. I'd be surprised if you weren't kind of bored of me."

"Like I'd ever get bored of you. You're full of surprises. Let's see now..." he placed his a finger on his chin, pretending to think, "The most recent surprise I can think of... Oh yeah! When you and Natalia ambushed us in the Abandoned Factory."

"It was Natalia's idea!" she blushed, "And there was no way I was staying cooped up in the manor! It was way too boring there without you and Luke; I'd go insane."

"Thanks, I'm honored by your compliment," he said, bowing to her. He sometimes did this just to bug her, he knew how much she hated it.

"Shut up," she said, "Who said it was a compliment anyway? I was merely saying you're the best of a bad situation," she added sarcastically.

"Ouch."

"Come on, you know I'm kidding."

The trip from Belkend to Port Belkend seemed to go by faster than when it was the other way around. Guy was still a bit anxious, Alex could tell, but for the most part he was back to normal. All the merriment hit a bump in the road, however, when they reached the port.

They asked the man at the dock when the next ferry to Daath was. He had explained that they were lucky, and that one happened to be arriving in about a half-hour.

Guy and Alex were wondering what they were going to do to pass the time. There wasn't exactly much to do at Port Belkend. While they were pondering this, some guy came stumbling out of the bar.

He was obviously drunk out of his mind. Alex thought it was just disgusting how people would actually get this drunk, it only ended badly for the innocent people around them. She was reminded of how her mother and father had told her about the drunk men beating her up when she was four. It was because of people like him she had no memories of the first four years of her life. Not that she'd remember it all that well anyway, but she was still basically robbed of her childhood because her parents had demanded several guards be around her at all times, until several years went by and it was reduced to only having Guy and Luke around all the time. That was after Luke had been kidnapped, so they were confined to the manor anyway. During those times, Guy was basically their guard.

The drunk man took notice of Guy and Alex looking at him; he started to stumble towards them. He was staring at Alex, and it was creeping her out.

"H-hey, Lady," he hiccuped, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Alex's first impression of this man was reinforced when he spoke; he was disgusting. "L-like what you see?" She could see Guy reaching for his sword from the corner of her eye. "Why not ditch Blondie and come have some fun with me?"

Before she knew it, the man was on the ground. Guy had drawn his blade and had it pointed directly at the creep's throat. Guy looked pissed, and the man looked scared out of his mind. Whatever had had Guy stressed out up until that point had obviously made him snap.

"Guy!" Alex shouted. He was completely overreacting here.

Guy ignored her and continued glaring at the man before him, "I dare you to say that again," he growled, rather uncharacteristically.

The man stared wide-eyed at him, then got up and ran as fast as he could away from them. Apparently the shock had sobered him up a bit. Guy sheathed his sword, he still looked angry, though not nearly as angry as Alex felt.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she shouted at him. Anybody in the area who hadn't been looking at them turned their heads in their direction.

Any of the remaining anger on Guy's face was quickly replaced by shock.

"I-I was-" he stuttered.

"Well?" she asked, angrily.

Some of the anger returned to his features, "Did you hear what he just said?" he yelled back at her.

"Yes, Guy, I did," she replied loudly. The people around them started whispering. That only got Alex more pissed off about the situation. "I know the type," she continued, glaring at him, "He probably hits on anything that could wear a skirt without looking like a tool!"

"You weren't doing anything!"

"I would have, if he had actually tried anything."

"I was just trying to protect you-"

"I don't need you to, Guy! I can look out for myself!"

"But-"

"No. I can look after myself. Why do you think I got sword training? So I can stand back and watch while other people protect me? I don't think so."

Guy stared at her for a while. He wasn't angry any more, he looked almost hurt. He stared at the ground for a while, looking dejected once again. "Alex, I-"

"I don't care," she shrugged.

"Alex-"

This time it was a horn signaling the arrival of the ferry that cut him off.

"Let's just get on the ferry and go to Daath," Alex sighed.

Guy nodded, looking more gloomy and troubled than she'd ever seen him. She instantly felt bad about yelling at him, but she wasn't about to admit she was wrong. She was too stubborn to do that, and in her mind she was right, he had gone too far.

Ever since Akzeriuth, everything had been falling apart. She sighed inwardly, so much for a pleasant journey...


	9. Change

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss.**

* * *

Chapter 9: Change

It was cold. Cold and wet. Alex and Guy had been waiting inside the cave in Aramis Spring for a few hours now, and there was no sign of Luke. Along with the dampness of the area around them, they had tension and awkwardness in the air; engulfing them. Nothing had changed since Port Belkend; they still weren't speaking to each other.

At first Guy had felt a bit guilty about the whole thing. He knew Alex could protect herself, yet she hadn't done anything when the man was approaching her. Guy was only doing what he thought was necessary. He had thought about it a lot on the ferry from Port Belkend to Daath Bay, and the more he thought about the scenario, the more the guilt melted away and turned into irritation.

She had said she could protect herself; that she didn't need him to look out for her. If that was true then why hadn't she done anything? Guy realized that if she _had _done something, they probably wouldn't be ignoring each other right now. He came to the conclusion that she was overreacting before docking in Daath Bay, even after he admitted to himself that he didn't have to draw his blade on the creep, though he would never tell Alex that. She wasn't the only stubborn one.

Neither of them had moved since they stopped at the end of the cave, silently deciding to wait for Luke there. Guy had sat down in front of a small pool of water at the end of the path in the cave, just in front of the opening. Alex was a few feet away from him, choosing to sit down against the wall, staring straight ahead.

He could tell just by looking at her that she didn't plan on speaking to him any time soon, and he knew better than to expect that she would. They had known each other for ten years. Their friendship wasn't always ideal, they had gotten into small fights before. Even so, she had never yelled at him. At most, the arguments they had when they were young consisted of what Luke should be taught and how he should be taught them, considering they, along with Natalia, were basically left to raise him. Alex had just turned thirteen, Natalia was eleven, and Guy was fourteen. Needless to say, raising a child was a lot of responsibility to place on the three of them. Along with that responsibility came stress, which ended in several small arguments between the three of them.

The most serious of these bickerings took place just after Luke had returned to the manor, or rather, just after he was born. It was right after Luke had learned to walk, and they needed to decide what he needed to learn next. Alex and Natalia had thought it was most important for him to learn things like the alphabet, and even Ancient Ispanian. Guy had thought that that was placing too much pressure on him, and that they should start off slow, since he was confined to the manor anyway and there was no point in rushing things. He conceded that he should be taught the alphabet, and the common language that everyone knew, but Ancient Ispanian wasn't exactly important. The girls had been stubborn, saying that Ancient Ispanian _was_ important, but quickly admitted that Guy was right after Luke had thrown a tantrum about how he hated learning (at least he had picked up on the meaning of the word "stupid").

It was kind of sad to say that that was their most serious argument, considering there had actually been no yelling involved. Guy and Alex had both been completely calm while stating their own points and considering the other's. Natalia had been the most riled, probably because she was the youngest and the most affected by the stress, she was also quite upset about that fact that Luke had forgotten about his promise to her. There was also the fact that all of those arguments had included Natalia as well, so Guy and Alex had never actually fought between just the two of them, although they had come close to an argument when Alex decided she wanted sword training, and he finally decided that if she was going to start training, she had better train under someone, and he reluctantly asked Pere to train her.

Because of the lack of real arguments they had, there was nothing to prepare them for this. Maybe that was why it had ended up so bad.

In a way, this was their first real argument. The first time she had yelled at him, the first time he had yelled back, and definitely the first time they had gone this long without speaking to each other. They had always made up fairly quickly, practically the instant one of them had been proved right or wrong.

Luke had always been the one who acted as proof, seeing as their arguments were mostly about him. Guy assumed that was why they hadn't made up yet, there was no one to prove who was right and who wasn't. This argument was completely between the two of them, they would have to figure it out on their own.

He knew that it was going to be a while before they were talking again, considering how stubborn about this they both were. Guy didn't want to admit that he was wrong, because in his mind he wasn't, and he knew that Alex was thinking the exact same thing, only in her favour. So he was reasonably surprised when he was roused from his thoughts by her voice. Just hearing her voice got his hopes up considerably, it was probably one of the first times he hoped he was wrong about her.

"It's about time you showed up."

Guy's hopes were quickly dashed when he realized why she had spoken. Looking up, he saw that Luke, as well as Tear and Mieu, had finally joined them. He sighed inwardly, _"At least it shouldn't be as awkward now."_

"Alex!" Luke shouted happily, though Guy could still detect a bit of misery in his voice, "Guy! You're both here!"

Looking more closely at him as Guy stood up, Guy noticed two things. First, the happiness on Luke's face after seeing Alex and Guy waiting for him disappeared extremely quickly. Second-

"You got a haircut," Alex noted, as she too stood up and started walking toward the three others.

"Um, yeah," Luke replied awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

"It looks good," Guy said, "Clean cut."

Luke didn't respond, he looked completely miserable for some reason. Alex was the first to say something about it.

"What's wrong?"

"I-I'm not Luke," he replied nervously, looking at the ground. It was as if he was telling them it was okay for them to abandon him right there.

"Great," Guy said, irritated already. He was wondering when this would come up, he didn't expect it to be this fast, "We don't need you talking like Asch too. He doesn't even want the name anyway, I say take it."

"Take it?" Luke asked, amusement in his voice as he looked up, "You haven't changed a bit."

"If only you knew..." Alex replied quietly, just loud enough for them to hear.

_"Ouch..." _Guy thought.

The other three were immediately confused by her words. Alex looked shocked with herself to have even spoken them. Uncomfortable silence surrounded them for a few really long moments before Tear said something.

"Did something happen?" she asked, "Even with Guy's phobia you two were sitting unusually far apart. And it didn't look like you were talking."

"We just had a disagreement," Alex shrugged.

"It's not important," Guy added, though he instantly regretted the words after seeing the look of disapprovement on Alex's face. Why did girls have to make it so complicated? He obviously didn't mean it the way she took it.

"Of course it isn't important!" Alex exclaimed sarcastically. Guy could practically feel the others growing more and more uncomfortable beside him, (Mieu had actually hidden behind Luke), "Why would it be important?" she continued.

"I didn't mean it like that," Guy sighed, "You're completely overreacting." Again, he instantly regretted the words. He didn't need to see Tear hide her face in her hand to know that was an incredibly poor choice of words. What was wrong with him? He usually did well when it came to calming people down.

"I'm overreacting?" Alex asked, "_I'm _overreacting?"

_"Oh God..." _he already knew what was coming next. He planted his face in his hands and said, "Okay. Yeah, you have every right to be angry about that one. It was a completely stupid thing to say on my part-"

He ignored Luke mouthing the words "_I'll say" _before Alex started up again.

"What about you?" she asked angrily, "Like you weren't overreacting when you pulled your sword on that guy!"

"What?" Tear asked, shocked. Alex looked a bit shocked too when Tear spoke. Almost like she had forgotten Tear, Luke, and Mieu were even there.

The last thing he needed was for Tear and Luke to take her side without the full story. He didn't even want anybody to get involved and take sides at all; he wanted the two of them to figure it out on their own.

"Let me explain..." he said to Tear. She let him, listening intently to what he was saying.

After he had finished she said, "It does sound like you were overreacting a bit. I really don't think you had to threaten his life."

"Look," Guy said, after Alex had motioned toward Tear with a look that plainly said "_Told you so"._ "I appreciate the input, but this is something we need to figure out on our own."

"What is there to figure out?" Alex asked.

He ignored this last question and continued, "I'd rather not get you guys involved in this. Can we change the subject, please? And while we're at it, could we leave this depressing place? The two of us have been waiting here for hours; it's probably not helping the whole situation right now."

They were quiet for a while as they started heading back the way Alex and Guy came. They were doing their best to avoid walking through the little pools of water everywhere. In some places that was impossible, Luke had even fallen face first into one of the pools. The event had caused the silence around them to break, as the others were trying their hardest not to laugh at him. It proved impossible after a few seconds. It was clear they had all needed a laugh, especially Guy and Alex. Luke, embarrassed, had immediately changed the subject.

"Did I mention I'm going to do my best to change?" he said weakly, getting out of the water and attempting to wring his shirt dry, "You know, after the whole Akzeriuth thing... But for now I'm not really sure what I can do."

He looked completely defeated. Guy didn't really blame him, after what happened. "Well," he said, "Why don't you start with what you can do?"

"You're right," Luke replied, "I need to focus on what's important now, saving St. Binah."

"St. Binah?" Alex and Guy asked together. The two of them had come to a stop together, looking at each other to make sure they both didn't know what Luke was talking about. For a split second it seemed they had forgotten about their argument before Alex looked away again, seemingly not wanting to look at him. When was this going to end?

"Oh yeah!" Luke exclaimed, determination suddenly appearing on his face, "I completely forgot! St. Binah's falling now too. Just like Akzeriuth. We need to save it."

"Sure, but how do you know that?" Alex asked as the group started moving again.

"I was connected with Asch the whole time I was unconscious. They found out about the collapse a little after you two left. There was also something about Van and a lot of replica data, but I don't know much about it."

"But how do you know for sure that St. Binah is falling?" Guy asked.

"We don't," Tear replied, "It's one of the reasons we came back up. Other than that I have a report to give in Daath."

"Luke," Guy started, "You know that if you do manage to save the people of St. Binah, it won't bring back the people of Akzeriuth."

"I know. I just feel like if I work hard to do something, I might be able to forgive myself for what happened. But I know it isn't that simple. The people who lost family in Akzeriuth will never forgive me."

"Of course," Alex said, having lost all of the attitude in her voice. She seemed to have decided that Luke was more important at the moment. Guy was thankful for that, it showed that behind her immature behaviour lately, she could still be as mature as she usually was. It was good thing, considering her years as a teenager were almost up; she was turning twenty in a month. But then again, she, as well as Guy and Natalia, had been robbed of her youth the moment Luke was put in their custody, though Guy was robbed of his youth years before that. To make things worse for Alex, she was confined to the manor, Guy and Natalia could leave if they wanted to. It was a miracle Alex didn't go insane. "You can apologize all you want to," Alex continued, "but that doesn't mean the families of the deceased have to forgive you. If anything it would probably make them more miserable." She paused for a moment. "If you really want to get over this and do something more to help people, Luke, you'll have to be able to put your past behind you. You'll only be able to focus more on what you can do if you do that. But at the same time you shouldn't forget about what happened."

"I don't know if I can do that." Luke replied. "I mean, obviously forgetting about it isn't an option for me. But putting it all behind me..."

"You know," Guy said, suddenly remembering something that happened shortly after Luke was brought to the manor, "There was something you said to me once. It was shortly after your return from the kidnapping, so I guess it was shortly after you were born. I asked you if it was hard not having you memory. You told me "You can't move forward if you keep looking back". That was your way of saying you didn't need a past."

Luke was silent for a few moments; they were getting pretty close to the exit now.

"Man I was stupid." Luke finally said, "I didn't 'not need' a past. I didn't have one."

"Even so," Guy replied, "I found it insightful."

"Maybe," Luke started, "To try and make things right, maybe I should never be happy."

"You're kidding, right?" was Alex's immediate response.

"I know that's not right," Guy agreed.

"Well then, what can I do?" Luke asked, looking completely lost.

"Try your best," Guy replied, "Do your best for the rest of your life to make everyone in the world happy."

Luke looked dumbfounded. "That's impossible! I can't do that!"

"I know that, you idiot," Guy laughed, "I'm just saying. Make that your purpose."

"Purpose..." he was depressed about something again.

Alex rolled her eyes at him. "What now?"

Tear answered for him, "He's been wondering what his purpose is. He wants to know why he was born. He wants to know—"

"What would have happened if I wasn't born?" he finished for her.

"Asch would have died in Akzeriuth as Luke," Alex answered immediately. Luke looked up at her, still seeming depressed. "We should be thankful that you were born. Odds are we all would have died in Akzeriuth if you weren't."

"But according to the Score, I should have died."

"Exactly, Luke," Alex said, "But you didn't. Your birth obviously altered the Score a little, I don't see why that's such a bad thing. We're alive because of it, because of you meeting Tear. If she wasn't there to sing her Fonic Hymn, we all would have died."

"I altered the Score?"

"Yes."

"So then if me dying would put the Score back on track—"

"Okay," Guy said, while Alex groaned beside him, "Stop. That's enough. We don't need you talking like that. She's saying that your birth was a good thing."

"How?" Luke demanded.

"For starters," Tear said, "Both you and Asch are alive. We are too. That's a good thing, not a bad thing."

"But if I'm altering the Score—"

"All she meant is that you aren't bound by the Score," Tear said, "I thought you were going to change? That won't happen if you kill yourself."

"And that's not something we're going to allow," Guy said, motioning between him and Alex as she nodded beside him.

"Yeah, Master!" Mieu shouted, "I don't want you to die either!"

"Right..." Luke finally conceded, "Thanks, guys."

"You're welcome," Guy said, surprised that Luke had said thanks, "Now let's focus on what we need to do now, before you start moping again."

They had now reached the beautiful area outside the depressingly damp cave. It felt great to be surrounded by trees and life again after so many hours of being inside a cave that he'd probably still be happy if they wound up in the Zao Desert upon leaving it.

It had by now become clear that Alex just flat-out refused to talk to Guy. It was better than her yelling at him in his opinion. As Guy had asked, the others tried their best to ignore it and let them be while they were trying to figure out what to do next.

It wasn't long before they were interrupted though, Jade was running toward them. The fact that Jade, who had tried his best to avoid running by saying he was too 'old', was running instantly clued them in. Something happened.

"Oh good," he said as he approached them, "I was afraid I'd missed you two." It was clear he was speaking to Alex and Guy. "And Tear's here as well, and Luke too." At the mention of Luke, Jade's voice turned suddenly icy.

"What's wrong, Colonel?" Tear asked, as Luke deflated behind her.

"Natalia and Ion have been kidnapped."


	10. Reunion

_**Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own Tales of the Abyss. All I own is Alex and random other OCs that may appear.**_

* * *

_Chapter 10: Reunion_

Anise Tatlin was a very impatient person when it came to Fon Master Ion's well-being. That impatience had done nothing but grow with every minute Anise hid beside the staircase leading to the cathedral in Daath. Ion and Natalia had been kidnapped, and Anise wanted to do something about it. The Colonel, however, had said that they should gather man power first, and so went to Aramis Spring to find Guy and Alex. And while Anise agreed it was a good idea, he was taking so long! Couldn't he move any faster?

Anise didn't exactly wait quietly or still. She had spent the few hours she was waiting for them pacing beside the staircase and mumbling to herself. Some of the people passing by had given her strange looks; some of them had been shocked to hear the odd profanity coming from the mouth of the thirteen year old girl, but Anise didn't really care. All she cared about was saving Ion, and Natalia too, and she couldn't do that until the Colonel returned.

After four excruciatingly long and uneventful hours, she finally saw them. The Colonel, Guy, and Alex, as she expected, but what surprised her was the fact that Tear and Mieu were there, and... Was that Asch?

An idea came to Anise's mind, and she hid herself behind one of the staircase's pillars, thinking of payback for making her wait so long. She waited until they were close enough before jumping out at her target.

"Boo!" she yelled as she threw herself at Guy, whose female phobia kicked in full force.

The reaction was as she had anticipated. He cried out in fright and immediately ran as far away from her as possible while Anise giggled at the scene she had created.

She half expected Alex to tell her off, so Anise was surprised when the young woman in question didn't react at all. That was weird; normally she'd smile or laugh as she told the young girl to go easy on him. But when Anise took a closer look at Alex, she noticed something was wrong; she seemed upset. When she stole a glimpse of the blonde she just scared, it was the same. He didn't even look horrified anymore; he'd usually remain shaking in fear for a few minutes after Anise scared him. Okay... That was super weird. She decided that she probably shouldn't ask them about it (she'd ask Tear or the Colonel when the opportunity came), so she addressed the rest of the group.

"Asch!" she exclaimed, turning to the red-headed male, "Did you get a haircut?" After noticing his reaction to being called Asch, she mentally slapped herself. _"Duh!" _she thought,_ "Alex and Guy went to go get the idiot, of course it's him. Oh, wait! Maybe that's why they're both in bad moods."_

"I'm not—" Luke started before Anise interrupted him.

"Oh no, it's just Luke. Why'd you bring the spoiled brat along, Colonel?"

"It was a package deal," The military man replied with a shrug. Luke deflated beside him while Tear whispered something in his ear, to which he nodded sadly, "I've gathered the man power. Now, where have they taken Ion and Natalia?"

"Right!" Anise replied, going full soldier mode. "They were taken into the Oracle Knight's headquarters underneath the cathedral."

"Excellent work."

"Yay!" Anise giggled at his praise. "Thanks, Colonel!"

"Do they just let you walk right in?" Luke asked.

"Into the cathedral, yes, but you have to be a member of the Oracle Knights to get into the headquarters," Tear explained.

"Then how are we going to get in there?" He asked.

"_What?" _Anise thought, _"He isn't complaining about having to go save them?"_

Her confusion must have been written on her face, because it caused Alex to answer her unasked question.

"He's trying to change himself into a better person," She said in an emotionless voice.

Anise really wanted to ask her what was wrong, but again decided to go in a different direction.

"Is that why he cut his hair?"

"At any rate," Jade interrupted before Luke could reply, "To answer Luke's question, Tear, have you done your report about the fake Seventh Fonstone in Akzeriuth yet?"

"Not yet. We were actually on our way here so I could do that when you approached us in Aramis Spring," she replied.

"Could you possibly take the five of us—"

"I'm here too, Colonel!" Mieu squeaked, jumping up and down.

"Yes, of course, my apologies, Mieu. Could you take the six of us into the headquarters as witnesses for the Fonstone's discovery?" he asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I can try. I'll need to speak to Maestro Tritheim about it. He should be in the cathedral."

"Then let's go talk to him," Luke said.

While the group made their way up the long staircase, Anise noticed a couple things. She noticed that Guy hadn't spoken at all since she had jumped out at him, and she noticed that both he and Alex were on opposite sides of the group, and didn't seem to be talking to each other. This worried her; they were usually so friendly with each other, what could they possibly have to fight about?

"Hey, Colonel...?" she whispered to the tall man beside her.

"I assume you're wondering about Alex and Guy?" he replied quietly.

"Well... Yeah. Do you know what happened?"

"I'm afraid not. Though, it seems they've had a rather serious lover's quarrel."

"Colonel," Tear whispered, joining the conversation, "I don't think that's an appropriate joke right now."

Jade sighed, "I suppose it's never an appropriate joke. This is the second time you've told me off for it, Tear. Perhaps I should just give up on it?"

"Please." Anise heard Luke mutter from beside her. She couldn't help but smile at that, but she still wasn't going to be nice to him.

As they entered the cathedral and started heading towards the chapel, Luke decided to quickly explain the situation. He probably thought he had enough time due to the size of the building. It was enormous after all. In fact, one thing Anise hated about the building was the fact that it had too many damn hallways, which they would have to deal with when they headed to the headquarters.

According to Luke, Alex and Guy had had a pretty serious argument. Supposedly there was this drunken guy who hit on Alex who Guy pulled his blade on, and it just got worse from there. Anise didn't see Guy doing something like that; he was always so nice and composed. She actually thought it was kind of sweet that he would go that far for Alex, but she knew he definitely went _too _far. And she understood why Alex would be upset; Anise got underestimated all the time in battle just because everyone thought she was a kid. She was only three years younger than Tear!

Anise knew the only reason Luke was telling them was to try and get them to approve of him; but it backfired, because the Colonel just had to antagonize him for it.

"You know, Luke," He whispered, "It's very impolite to go around sharing other people's secrets."

Luke deflated again at his words; Jade was very good at making people do that, particularly Luke. "You're right... I'm sorry."

Anise and Jade were both shocked at that, it was easy to tell, considering they were both left speechless for once.

"... Yes, well." Jade said quietly after a couple moments of silence, "We aren't the ones to apologize to."

"Really, Luke," Tear whispered, unimpressed, "Especially after Guy asked us not to get involved."

"Don't get angry at Master!" Mieu said, not whispering like everyone else. "He was only answering Anise's question!"

"Mieu..." Luke said warningly.

"_Arrgh!" _Anise thought, _"Now we're gonna get caught! You may be cute, Mieu, but you are a little dense sometimes."_

"You know," Alex said angrily from in front of them, "The invisible walls around you guys are pretty thin. In fact, it's _almost_ like they're not even there."

"At least her sarcasm is still intact," Jade said. "Good. I was worried I'd be the only sarcastic one left in the group."

"That's not even your type of sarcasm," Luke muttered.

"You two aren't helping," Tear said to them in an angry whisper, "Please, be quiet!"

"I'm sorry, you two," Luke said, turning to Guy and Alex, who were both at the front of the group, but still far away from each other. "I wasn't thinking..."

"It's fine, Luke," Guy said, although it didn't sound fine, Anise was just glad he was at least speaking. "Let's just forget about it, alright?"

"We've reached the chapel anyway," Tear said.

"After an oddly long walk by the way," Jade added.

"You guys _were _walking pretty slowly," Alex replied, crossing her arms.

"True."

"Can we just go and talk to Tritheim, already?" Guy sighed, "We've wasted enough time..."

"Yeah!" Anise agreed, suddenly remembering what they were doing, "We need to save Ion! ... A-and Natalia." She added when the others looked at her with their eyebrows raised. They opened the doors to the huge chapel and noticed it was completely empty but for two people. Maestro Tritheim, and, off to the side of the chapel, Anise's father, Oliver.

"Oh! Papa!" Anise yelled without thinking.

The others watched in amusement as she ran toward her father, she hadn't seen him in so long.

"Anise, how are you?" Oliver asked as she ran up to him, hoping with her entire being that he didn't have another scam to tell her about.

Ever since she was little, her family had been deep in debt because of some stupid scam Oliver and Anise's mother, Pamela, had fallen for. Mohs had bailed them out, and so her family had to work in the cathedral for the rest of their lives, without pay. Needless to say, Anise hated it. It had caused her many hardships in her life; and one particularly annoying hardship to do with Mohs that was ongoing. It was why she wanted—no, _needed, _to marry into money. So she could pay off this damn debt that was causing so many problems, and possibly stop one event in the future that she wanted so desperately not to happen, from happening.

"Anise, I have great news!" her father said to her, causing her heart to sink.

"_Here it comes," _She thought, as the others approached the two of them.

"I got a letter a couple weeks ago saying I had won an all expense paid trip to Keterburg," Oliver continued, smiling happily, "I thought it had to be wrong because I didn't enter any contest, so I sent them a letter saying that they made a mistake."

"_Please let that be all..." _Anise thought desperately.

"They sent me a letter back, saying that it wasn't a mistake. It was a reward for a devout follower of the Order of Lorelei. The trip was only ten thousand gald per person, a highly discounted price, so I paid at once."

"... You got scammed again, Papa."

"No kidding," Luke said. "What kind of trip can you take for 10,000 gald?"

Alex sighed and covered her forehead behind him.

"_Alright, so not all nobility are that stupid," _Anise thought, glaring at Luke.

"You idiot," Guy sighed, "That's not the type of scam it is."

"The first letter said he'd 'won' a trip." Tear said, "So why would he have to pay for it?"

"Oh... I get it."

"Honestly, Papa, why do you keep falling for these scams? Don't you learn?"

"Well, maybe we can still go on the trip, Anise. We don't know for sure that we can't."

"Of course we can't, Papa!"

"Well then, if the person was that desperate for money, maybe it's better that they have it instead of us."

Anise groaned loudly, "Papa! You're too nice for your own good! You should be more careful with the little money you _do _get to keep!"

Frustrated, Anise turned her back on her father. She hated it when he had those ditzy moments. She was better off with the group she was in anyway, she loved her parents, but at least the group had some money. She needed to worry about Ion now anyway.

"Anise?" Oliver asked.

"Sorry, Papa, but we have work we need to do," She turned to the group, "Let's get that permit and go."

"Right," Luke said, "Tear, after you."

"R-right..."

The group quickly approached Tritheim at the very front of the chapel.

"Cantor Tatlin, Cantor Grants, I thought you had perished in Akzeriuth?" he asked, looking shocked at their appearance.

Tear took no time in persuading him to give them a permit; he was pretty good about the whole situation.

"Great!" Anise said as they left the chapel and headed to the door on the side of them room, "Now all we have to worry about are the annoying hallways!"

"Annoying hallways...?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, there are a ton of them in this building. It gets really bad if you don't know where you're going, because they all look the same. So don't get lost and slow us down."

Tear and Luke took the time they used navigating through the hallways to explain what they had heard from Tear's grandfather in Yulia City.

"They won't help the people of St. Binah," Tear was saying, "Because the Score says it won't fall."

"I think the plentiful earthquakes in the Northern Rugnica region would disagree," Jade said.

"Yes," Tear agreed, "If there's a chance St. Binah may fall, then we have to do what we can."

Tear quickly showed the permit to the Oracle Knight standing guard at the entrance of the headquarters, and he stepped aside and let them pass.

If anybody thought that the cathedral was huge, they had obviously never been inside the Oracle Knight's Headquarters. Anise always thought that the amount of space and rooms inside the place was unnecessary, but now she really thought so. Ion and Natalia could be in any one of the rooms, and they were probably all locked with soldiers inside ready to attack.

"We'll have to work quickly and quietly to avoid being noticed," Jade said. "It would be bad if they noticed a soldier from Malkuth here."

"What do we do if they do notice us?" Alex asked, with how quiet she and Guy had been lately, Anise had forgotten that they were even there.

"I'm afraid we'll have no choice but to leave any soldier we run into dead."

Nobody said anything for what felt like a really long time.

"I don't think any of us will actually want to kill anyone, which is why we'll need to do our best to remain unnoticed," Tear said.

"That means no talking, Mieu," Anise warned.

"Mieu..."

"More killing..." Luke muttered.

"I know it's hard, Luke," Guy said to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "But we have to do this or more people will be killed in war."

Anise was uneasy about possibly having to kill fellow Oracle Knights, but if she had to do it to save Ion, then so be it. She knew how this place worked anyway, so she would be able to help the others navigate through it.

"What are all these gongs for?" Luke asked. They realized the 'total silence' thing wasn't really necessary, since there were no soldiers outside of their rooms at the moment.

"Oh yeah," Anise said, "We use the gongs to call soldiers out of their rooms for meetings."

"Then I guess we'll have to use them so the soldiers unlock the doors..." Guy said, looking extremely uncomfortable with the situation.

"That feels so... Wrong," Alex mumbled.

"Yeah, seriously..." Anise agreed while Luke nodded from behind them.

"We don't have a choice," Jade said sternly, "If we want to save Ion and Natalia, we have to do this."

Anise moaned, "But I feel like we're the bad guys here."

"We'll have to check every room," Jade said, ignoring Anise's last statement. Without waiting for the others, he began to walk away. "Hurry, we don't have much time."

"With our luck it'll be the farthest room from us," Alex said flatly as everyone started to follow Jade.

They quickly made their way to the first gong. Anise made a quick scan of the area and saw that there were four more after that one; she knew one of them led to a hall with more rooms though. Part of her thought that Ion and Natalia would be in one of the rooms in that hall.

"Alright, Mieu," Luke said, picking up the small ball of blue fluff, "You're up."

"I'll do my best, Master!" he squeaked before headbutting the gong.

"_With a voice that high, do we really need to ring the gongs?"_ Anise thought bitterly.

Anise, Alex, and Tear all winced when Mieu made contact with the gong, causing a loud crash to resonate through the area.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Tear asked him.

"I'm fine Tear! Thanks for asking," he replied, smiling at her, "You're so nice!"

Tear tried, and failed miserably, to conceal her blush. "N-no, I was just—"

"Get ready," Jade said suddenly, readying himself to cast.

Just as the words were out of his mouth, the door next to them opened, and three soldiers came out.

"Was that a meeting call?" one of them asked.

"Hey, look," another one said pointing at the group, "Intruders!"

"Get them!"

_**Oracle Knights have family and personalities. At one point, in the HQ when looking for Natalia and Ion, Luke falters to take down a knight that promises not to tell anyone they broke in if they let him go. He begs, saying he has a newborn daughter he has yet to meet. Jade takes him down, and while the others protest at first, Jade says that he knew they would be soft, and he merely left them unconscious. Luke still questions that they've been killing people with families.**_

The group took no time in readying their weapons. Jade and Tear immediately set to casting, while Alex, Luke, and Guy all drew their swords and ran into the battle. Anise quickly grabbed Tokunaga and expanded him before jumping on his back and joining the others in battle.

She decided that she didn't need to use physical attacks in this battle, since Guy, Alex, and Luke were already crossing blades with each soldier, so she decided to stand back and cast Limited instead.

_"Howl O raging wind and cleave mine enemies with your blade! Turbulence!"_

Blades of wind surrounded one of the soldiers and hit him, full force, leaving him unconscious.

"Wow, Colonel, you're so cool!" Anise yelled to Jade, forgetting to focus on her arte and losing it. "Oops!..."

"That was nothing, please focus on the enemy!" he shouted back, "If we do it right, we can leave them unconscious rather than kill them!"

"Right!" All three of the sword-wielders on the frontline shouted as Tear cast Force Field around the party.

"Leave it to us!" Luke added.

Anise and Jade seemed to give him the benefit of the doubt, and stopped their casting; Tear continued, in case any of them needed first aid.

Anise actually really liked Alex's style of battle, whether or not Alex thought it was weird. It was strange, but in a good way. She knew from when she asked Alex that she was taught by both the Commandant and some man named Pere, who apparently taught Guy. Alex had some of the same moves as both Guy and Luke for that reason, and for the most part a lot of her attacks were similar, but some seemed to be self-taught or even made-up. What was really different about her style, however, was how she went about executing the attacks. To Anise it looked almost like an elegant form of dance.

It didn't take long at all for the three of them to take care of the other two soldiers.

"Naturally, we'll just leave them here," Jade said, as he checked to make sure they were unconscious.

"I'm glad we don't actually have to kill them," Luke sighed.

"Yeah..." Anise agreed.

When they went into the room, they saw that it was empty except for a few book shelves and table; no Ion or Natalia.

"This is going to be a long search..." Alex sighed.

Everyone nodded solemnly as they turned around and left the room.

* * *

_"Feel the hammer of light! Limited!"_

A beam of powerful light struck down the last of the soldiers the group now had to deal with. They had been doing the same thing for the past hour: ringing the gongs, knocking out the soldiers that came out of a room, checking said room, getting annoyed that Ion and Natalia weren't there, leaving the room, and going on to the next one. Lather, rinse, repeat.

"Good job, Anise."

"This is getting ridiculous..." Luke gasped, dropping to the floor in exhaustion, "This has got to be the tenth room we've checked. I'm beat."

"No, don't say that!" Anise yelled, although she was getting sick of it too, "We have to find Ion and Natalia!"

"I know... Sorry, I'm just tired."

"It's fine, Luke," Alex said, pulling him to his feet again, she looked tired too, "We're all exhausted. How many rooms are there in this building, Anise?"

"There aren't many more, I don't think." she replied, placing a finger on her chin in thought, "We shouldn't be at it for much longer. Please, let's keep going."

They opened the door to realize that they weren't walking into a room, but into a hallway with doors all around the wall. At the end of the hall, there was a door that had something different about it from all the others; there was a guard in front of it.

"How much you want to bet they're behind that one?" Luke asked sarcastically.

"Come on," Anise said as she started heading toward the door, "At least there's only one guard, it should be a piece o' cake."

The guard didn't seem to be paying much attention, he didn't even notice them. Rather than causing too much commotion in case other soldiers came out of the other rooms, Tear sang a Fonic Hymn.

_"Tue rei ze croi riou tue ze..."_

The guard crumpled to the floor, not knowing what had hit him.

"That was easy..." Anise said, prodding the guard with her foot to make sure he was asleep, "It's too bad there were too many soldiers before, or this whole thing could have been easier."

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been more help," Tear replied.

"N-no! That's not what I meant at all, Tear! You've helped us out a ton!"

"That doesn't matter now," Jade said, "Let's move on."

To their relief, Ion and Natalia were in sight when they opened the door.

"Ion!" Anise shouted as she ran to him, "Are you two alright?"

"Anise! I'm sorry to have worried all of you," Ion replied, looking happy to see everyone, "Thank you for coming to rescue us."

"Yes, we're alright. Thank you for coming," Natalia added before turning to Luke, "Luke, it is you... Isn't it?"

"Sorry for not being Asch," he mumbled.

"No one's saying anything like that," She replied sternly, crossing her arms.

"Now that this is all settled," Jade, changing the subject, "We should get away from here. And we should take Ion with us, it's better he stay with us so we know where he is."

"Yeah," Luke agreed, "Mohs or Master Van shouldn't have him, that's for sure. But why would Mohs want to kidnap Natalia?"

"I assume so he could use her death as justification for a war," Jade shrugged, "Let's leave, now, before we're further noticed."

* * *

"That's all you told them, Luke?" Anise was asking; they had made it to the Fourth Monument just outside of Daath, where they had decided to take a break. The group was still exhausted from all the battling after all. They chose to use the time to catch-up, they had chosen to speak about how Luke, Tear, Guy, and Alex had known about Van's plans.

When Anise thought about it, it wasn't all that surprising that Luke was connected to Asch the entire time they were traveling with him. Asch _had_ contacted them through Luke before after all. What _was_ surprising was just how little Luke had told the rest of them of what they found in Ortion Cavern.

"He has enough data to replicate Hod!" Anise continued.

Guy didn't seem as shocked about that as Alex and Tear, and Luke just looked as if he was just remembering something important.

"Yes, but let's not worry about that right now," Jade said "We have to worry about saving St. Binah. We can worry about figuring out Van's motive later."

"What about stopping the war?" Luke asked.

"We won't be able to do that now, anyway," Natalia answered. "Mohs has Father's ear, it would be dangerous to go to Kimlasca."

"So then what do we do?" he asked.

"We'll go to Grand Chokmah," Jade replied. "We'll need permission if we want to evacuate St. Binah. Asch left the Tartarus in the port for us, let's be going."

As everyone got up to leave, Luke stalled them.

"Wait... Umm, I just wanted to apologize to all of you. For Akzeriuth, and how I treated you and stuff. I don't expect you all to trust me or be patient with me, but... I'm trying my best to change."

"It's not all your fault, Luke," Guy said. "I was responsible for raising you from a blank slate to the spoiled kid you were in Akzeriuth, I'm to blame too."

"It wasn't just you..." Alex sighed, addressing Guy. No one was more shocked than Guy to hear her speak calmly to him. "If you're to blame for that, then I am too..." Before he could respond, she turned away from him.

"Honestly," Natalia piped up, "What is the matter with you two? You were getting along just fine when we last saw each other."

"Natalia," Ion tried, "I don't think we should ask them about it."

"_Sweet, naive, Ion," _Anise thought, _"He's probably the only one who doesn't want to get involved in this."_

"Yes," Jade agreed, now irritated, "As I've said twice now, we should be getting to the Tartarus before Mohs realizes Ion and Natalia are missing."

The group finally seemed to get the picture, and started heading towards the port.

"_If Guy and Alex keep this up," _Anise thought, _"This is going to be a long trip..."_

* * *

_**A/N: So, for the most part, this chapter was basically me trying to get better with fight scenes and such (as I am horrible with them), and it was also a way for me to introduce Alex's fighting style and stuff. To put it simply, her style is sort of like Marta from ToSDoTNW with a sword rather than a spinner. Anyway, thanks for reading, and reviews are love!**_


	11. The Silver City

_Chapter 11: The Silver City_

"Jade! Oh my brother's alive!"

The reaction to the Governor of Keterburg's words was instantaneous. Jade was the only one to remain still while the others all did a double take; even Tear had lost her composure, and Mieu fell off Luke's shoulder.

"Brother?" they all asked in unison, their eyes all comically large.

"Hello Nephry," Jade replied to his sister, ignoring the question altogether, "It's been a while, hasn't it? Not since your wedding I believe."

Jade didn't know what reaction to expect from the others when they found out the beautiful young Viscount Osborne was his sister, but when he thought about, the reaction they all just gave seemed about right.

The group was originally on their way to the still-broken Rotelro Bridge to dock, as the plan was to dock there and go to Grand Chokmah on foot. However their plan was forced to change when the Tartarus's engine broke down. Guy had managed to repair a lot of the damage, but insisted that they get a real repair in the nearest port just in case.

Of course, with Jade's luck, that port had to be near Keterburg, where he was born and raised.

Most people would be happy to return to their home towns, especially if it meant telling family members they've survived a catastrophe like Akzeriuth. For Jade, however, this was not the case. Keterburg may have been the place where Jade grew up, and it may have been the place where his sister lives now, but the tourist city held one particularly bad memory that managed to keep him away; he could still picture the snow surrounding the corpse of the one woman he had truly admired turning red with her blood. He could still hear Saphir screaming for him to do something to save her.

He still couldn't believe he had thought making a replica would be a good idea.

He would never tell anyone in the group about the particular event he relived with each passing night; it was none of their concern.

The overnight trip on the Tartarus to Keterburg Bay had been relatively quiet and awkward. Natalia and Ion had been filled in on the situation with Alex and Guy, and everyone was getting more and more impatient with the two in question. Jade, who had at first found it amusing, and Tear, who was quite possibly the most patient out of all of them, found it particularly tiring, Natalia seemed annoyed as well, Anise and Ion were mostly worried, and Luke was just hesitant around them. The two of them hadn't fought or anything; on the contrary, they hadn't spoken at all. Alex didn't seem to want to be in the same room as Guy; ironic, considering he was the one with the female phobia.

Jade knew they weren't going to last much longer before one of them caved; they were both looking more and more miserable by the hour. They would soon realize just how silly the whole argument was; or at least the others hoped they would.

Jade had to explain that he was alive to the Malkuth soldiers at Keterburg Bay in order to get the Tartarus repaired, he told them that he would explain the situation to Viscount Osborne and that she would vouch for his identity. So they had quickly made their way from the port to the city, stopping only for coats and scarves as the other members of the group weren't used to the cold like Jade was.

"What's going on?" Nephry asked, staring at Jade in shock, "They said you were killed at Akzeriuth."

Jade was really beginning to wonder just how many people he would have to explain that he was alive to.

"Well," Jade replied to his worried, and now confused, sister, "What happened is..."

He explained everything; what happened in Akzeriuth, Commandant Grants' betrayal, the existence of Luke, a replica, and finally the need for the Tartarus to be repaired.

Nephry was shocked at first, then, no doubt, the realization of who her brother was and the fact that he had created replicas dawned on her.

"... That's incredible," she said after Jade finished, "I'm just glad you're safe." She paused for a moment before getting back to the task at hand, "We'll inspect the Tartarus. Once you're resupplied, please go see Emperor Peony. He's been very worried."

Jade was both surprised and not about that last statement. Of course his friend would be too stubborn to accept his death. Jade replied anyway, "Oh? Didn't everyone think I was dead?"

"His Majesty was the only one who believed you were still alive."

Again, this statement did not really shock him.

Nephry turned to address the rest of the group, "You all must be tired. Please rest a bit while we prepare your ship. I'll prepare rooms at the hotel for all of you."

Everyone thanked her before turning to leave. Jade saw from the corner of his eye his sister stopping Luke to whisper something before they left. He would have to ask Luke about that later.

"Hey, Colonel?" Alex asked as they made their way to the hotel, Jade turned his head to look at her to imply he was listening, "In Baticul I heard Uncle say that Kimlasca could take Malkuth's intent to stop a war from breaking out seriously because you were the one delivering Emperor Peony's letter, and now your sister said that he's very worried about you. Are the two of you close?"

"You could say that," Jade answered; it shocked him a little that Alex could act so civil towards everyone in the group while ignoring Guy.

"You're being modest, Jade," Ion said suddenly before turning to Alex, "The Colonel is Emperor Peony's best friend."

"Really?" she and Luke asked; no one else seemed that surprised.

"The two of you were confined to your manor while growing up, am I right?" the green haired boy asked, "That might explain why you don't know."

"So it's pretty well known then, huh?" Alex asked.

"It appears that way," Jade replied with a shrug.

"Oh, hey!" Luke suddenly exclaimed as they reached the entrance to the hotel, "I think I forgot something at Nephry's, I'll just go back and get it."

"Shall I go with you?" Guy asked.

"Nephry's a _woman_, remember?" Luke replied, clearly trying to say he wanted to go alone.

"Oh, I love _looking_ at beautiful women."

All the girls in the group turned to look at him, raising their eyebrows as if to say _"Really?..."_ Jade wondered if he should really be saying something like that, considering he already had one female in the group mad at him.

"Guy is most certainly... a guy..." Natalia said quietly, failing to hide the disappointment in her voice.

Guy began scratching the back of his head, now looking extremely uncomfortable.

"She's an older woman, and married you know," Anise added to Natalia's remark, putting her hands on her hips.

"Not to mention she's Jade's sister..." Luke added, looking slightly disturbed.

"W-wait, hold on! I didn't mean it like that..." he was now looking at Luke as if begging him to let him go, seeming to just want to get away from the stares of the girls.

"Master, I'll go with you too!" Mieu shouted happily, as if he didn't hear what was going on.

Luke groaned loudly; apparently he was still the same old hot head, "Everybody just shut up!" he yelled, "I don't need anyone to come with me!"

And with that, he quickly ran off, Mieu following closely behind despite Luke telling him to stay behind.

The rest of them quickly checked into the hotel, agreeing to meet in Natalia and Tear's room in an hour to discuss what to do when the repairs were done. Jade told the rest he'd wait and tell Luke the plans when he returned from Nephry's, telling them to rest or go sightseeing in the meantime.

Anise quickly grabbed Alex and Ion's hands and dragged them out of the hotel, shouting something about a snowball fight, while Natalia and Tear made their way to the elevator, Natalia saying something about how romantic the city was. Guy left the hotel shortly after that, saying he was going for a walk to clear his head.

Jade stayed right where he was. He knew what Nephry was telling Luke, and he wanted to make sure Luke wouldn't tell anyone about what she was no doubt explaining this very second.

Jade knew she was telling Luke everything about his past. About how he used to kill small animals for fun and not really care about the difference between life and death, his friendship with Saphir, now better known as Dist the Reaper, the reason he created fomicry and replicas, how he was only nine years old when he did it, and most importantly she was most likely telling him about Professor Nebilim. The same woman he thought about whenever he was in Keterburg, or saw snow or fire for that matter. When she had died, Jade had simply made a replica, thinking it would be the same; that it would be like he had never caused her death in the first place. It was his fault after all that she died. He had tried to use the seventh fonon, and it ended up striking Professor Nebilim and burning her house down when he lost control of it. He and Saphir had moved her out of the city, Saphir panicking all the while.

Jade knew then that she was going to die, and decided to create the replica. He had created many replicas before, mostly just Nephry's dolls or sometimes even small monsters; he had never created a human replica before. Maybe that was why it went so wrong, the replica he created was nothing more than a monster.

The replica disappeared shortly after killing plenty of Malkuth soldiers. She was now known as the Serial Fonist Killer, but Nephry didn't know about that part.

Jade was soon recognized for his talents, and was adopted into the famous Curtiss military family, so he could have a better environment for studying on how he could truly bring back the Professor, a dream he later gave up on.

He was roused from his thoughts by the opening and closing of the hotel door.

"Oh, Jade." It was Luke.

"I presume Nephry's told you," Jade replied stepping toward Luke.

"T-told me what?" Luke asked. He was a horrible liar it seemed.

"You're a naughty boy, telling lies like that," Jade said; sarcasm in his voice.

"... How did you know?"

"It doesn't matter. Though I will say for the record that I no longer desire to resurrect the Professor."

"Really?"

"You should know the reason for that better than anyone. A replica has no memory of the past; a replica cannot forgive me for my sins. Now, everyone's meeting in Tear's room shortly, we might as well go up together."

"Jade?"

"Yes?"

"If I could make replicas, I think I would have done the same thing."

Jade laughed. Maybe he was trying to change after all. "Are you trying to make me feel better? You've somewhat missed the mark, but I appreciate the sentiment. In any case, you mustn't tell anyone of this, understood?"

"... All right."

"That's a promise."

...

"What happened to you two?" Luke asked, causing everyone in the hotel room to turn their heads in the direction of the three that were entering.

Anise and Alex were both covered in snow that was now melting, causing their hair and clothes to become soaking wet. Ion was with them, but he had chosen not to join their snowball fight with the children in the plaza.

"Snowball fight," Alex answered simply, not looking at anybody, her face turning red as she moved to the corner of the room and sitting down, choosing not to sit in one of the chairs to avoid getting any furniture wet.

"Let's not get into the details..." Anise added with a nervous laugh while joining her. The two girls sat down on the floor hugging their legs to their chests, apparently trying to forget what had happened in the last hour. They looked strange; most of the snow had now melted, leaving their hair plastered to their red-with-embarrassment faces and already wet new coats they had just gotten hours ago. Anise had gone with a bright shade of pink for hers, while Alex's was as white as the snow they were playing in moments ago. The others in the room, being Tear, Natalia, Jade, Mieu, who had worn a small scarf to avoid catching cold, and Luke, were already wearing just their regular clothes.

"Why not?..." Luke asked slowly, now clearly confused.

"They challenged a group of children in the plaza and lost," Ion explained in his ever so innocent voice.

"Ion!" Anise whined while Alex groaned slightly and buried her growing-redder face in her knees, clearly he had said something wrong. He was confused by this; it was the truth wasn't it?

"Seriously?" Luke asked his sister as Tear went to grab a couple towels from the bathroom, "You lost to a bunch of six year olds?"

"Hey! Those kids had to be at least ten!" Anise protested, suddenly up on her feet again with her fists clenched, blushing furiously, "I'd like to see you take them on and win! I even tried using Tokunaga but it didn't work!" she added, holding up a soaked Tokunaga.

"Seriously," Alex agreed, accepting a towel from Tear and thanking her, "There were so many of them, it's no wonder we lost. And they probably do that every day; we don't see snow that often in Baticul - or Daath. They clearly had the advantage!" she paused before protesting further, "They even had fon machines throwing the snowballs for them!"

"Oh yeah, I saw those," Guy said as he entered the room, causing everyone to turn their heads, "The situation did look pretty unfair."

It was clear everyone, including Guy, expected her to ignore what he said, so they were all shocked when she moved one of the arms from around her legs and motioned towards Guy saying, "Thank you! You see, Luke? It was unfair, that's why we lost."

Apparently she cared more about her pride when it came to losing a snowball fight to children than she did about her actually serious fight with Guy.

Everyone's heads zipped back to her the second the words were out her mouth. They were all shocked into silence; Guy and the others were too surprised to say anything, and Jade seemed to be enjoying himself. Ion was hoping this meant they would be making up; he was worried about both of them.

Alex seemed to be confused about everyone suddenly staring at her; apparently she hadn't realized that she had just spoken to Guy or she forgot completely about their argument for a moment. It was a few seconds before she caught on, and when she did she only looked away from everyone else, going back into her previous position in the corner, suddenly looking depressed. When Ion looked at Guy he saw that he was still looking at Alex, wearing an expression similar to hers. Ion was sure they'd make up soon; they didn't look like they could keep it up much longer. He decided he would talk to Alex later and try to get her to see Guy's side of things; Ion knew Guy only went that far because he cared about her, whether he went overboard or not.

It wasn't really a surprise that everyone in the room felt suddenly uncomfortable around them; it had been happening a lot lately, and Ion and Natalia had only been rescued a day and a half ago.

Jade cleared his throat in an effort to change the subject, "We should probably hurry this up; Alex and Anise are likely to catch a cold if they don't change soon, and that would be troublesome. This shouldn't take too long." Everyone turned their attention towards Jade before he continued. "You already know we're going to be docking at Rotelro Bridge and walking to Grand Chokmah. What I did not tell you is there is a forest between those two places, so we'll have to deal with that."

"You wouldn't be telling us this if there wasn't some sort of problem, Colonel," Anise said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Yes, well seeing as it is wartime and Grand Chokmah itself is now a fortress, it's likely that the forest will be heavily guarded as well."

"What do we do if that's the case?" Natalia asked.

"I can't say for certain," he replied, "But it's likely that I would be accompanied to the city to explain the situation to His Majesty while you wait in the forest for someone to get you. At any rate, the trip to Rotelro Bridge from here on the Tartarus will take a few hours, we'll leave as soon as the repairs are done; that should be in the early morning. You should all get some rest."

After he finished speaking he left the room, Alex left right after saying she needed to have a shower and get into some dry clothes. It wasn't long until Ion was left with only Tear and Natalia (Anise had asked him to stay until she changed into some dry clothes since they were sharing a room).

Ion felt that if he was going to talk to Alex it should be soon. The negativity of Alex and Guy's behaviour was almost as bad for the rest of the group as it was for them; it was like the miasma.

His worry was obviously written on his face; the two girls in the room took notice of it.

"Fon Master?" Tear asked, "You look worried, is something wrong?"

"I'm worried about Alex and Guy," He answered thoughtfully, "I want to know if there's something I could do."

"Indeed," Natalia replied, "They never really fought during the years back at the manor, and when they did it was never so serious; they'd make up in a matter of hours."

"If they've never really fought before," Anise said, returning in her nightgown, her hair down rather than her usual pigtails. "It sort of makes sense that it would be this serious."

"It's true..." Ion agreed, "But they both look so unhappy. I hope they make up soon."

"Yeah..." Anise sighed, "I was hoping they were going to when Alex actually spoke to him. Everything's been so awkward in the group since they started fighting."

"It's still an improvement, however small," Tear told her, "I'm sure they'll make up soon enough."

"Even so," Ion replied, "I'd like to go talk to Alex. She looked particularly depressed tonight, perhaps I could comfort her."

"If you're going, I'm going." Anise said to him, "I am your guard after all. Besides, I'm worried too."

"There is something I'd like to ask her," Tear claimed, getting up from her bed, "I'll go as well."

"She is my cousin," Natalia said with a sigh, "Even if I don't agree with her side of things, I'd like to see if I can help her through this."

"You took a side?" Anise asked her, "I thought Guy said he didn't want anybody doing that."

"It was hard not to," Natalia answered, "Guy was simply doing his job as her guardian. You can't say you haven't sided with one of them as well, even if only a small amount of you is siding with them."

"I guess..." Anise admitted, all of them filing out of the room and in the direction of Alex's, "If I had to side with one of them I guess it would be Alex. I know a bit about being underestimated, because of my age and stuff."

"I promised Guy I wouldn't get involved with this," Tear said, sounding a little unimpressed with the other two girls, "I won't pick a side. I do feel it is necessary for us to get involved and speak with them though, if they aren't going to see the error of their ways themselves."

"I think they have," Ion said, "Which is why we should speak to them. I think they're too stubborn to admit they're wrong. If this really is their first fight, they probably need someone to tell them when to finish it."

"I agree with Ion," Anise declared as they reached the door to Alex's room. She didn't even bother to knock; she just opened the door and charged right in singing Alex's name.

Alex was sitting down on her bed in her nightgown, drying her hair with a towel when they entered; she had obviously just got out of the shower. Alex turned her head when the door opened and Anise ran in, taking a seat next to Alex on her bed. She looked surprised by their sudden appearance.

"Anise," Tear scolded, "You should have knocked first. What if she had been changing?"

"Boo..." Anise replied, crossing her arms, "Sorry."

Alex laughed, Ion could tell it wasn't genuine, "It's fine, Tear. No harm done. What are you all doing here anyway? Is there some problem?"

"Tear says she has something to ask you," Anise piped up, seeming to not want to be the one to bring up the subject of Guy.

"So you all came?" Alex asked slowly with a tone of suspicion in her voice; Ion figured she already knew why they were here.

"Yes, well um..." Tear faltered, not liking being put on the spot like that. It was strange to see her, of all people, lose her composure. "We all noticed how...upset both you and Guy look." The fake smile on Alex's face quickly disappeared. "I wanted to know why you won't talk with him and make up?"

"...Alright," Alex replied, staring at the ground, "Why didn't you ask Guy?" She didn't want to talk about it, that much was clear.

"Most of us are girls so..." Anise answered, "We'd probably just scare him."

Alex nodded in response, her eyes still on the ground.

"We're all worried about you two," Ion told her, "That's why we want to know why you don't just talk to him."

"...I don't know if I can," Alex answered quietly, "I want to, but I've been too stubborn about this whole thing. I wouldn't know what to say," she sighed, "I know you came to talk about this, but could we please change the subject?"

"Um, well..." Tear said awkwardly, a faint blush appearing on her face, "The city is rather beautiful, isn't it?"

"You went with the scenery, really?" Anise asked her, "I guess it is the easiest change of subject."

"I agree with Tear," Natalia said, ignoring Anise's comment, "This city is exquisite. The snow makes it particularly beautiful. Wouldn't it be splendid to take a romantic walk with a gentleman?"

"Yeah!" Anise replied, suddenly cheerful. "But who are we gonna do that with in our group? Guy's out of the question 'cause of his phobia, and Luke's out of the question 'cause he's Luke... I'd rather take a romantic walk with Mieu."

Alex laughed, "That's not very nice, Anise. He's at least trying to change, and he isn't as annoying anymore. And you're forgetting about Ion."

"Oh yeah," Anise responded thoughtfully, "I guess I'd have to take him with us since I'm his guard..." Alex gave her a questioning look and opened her mouth to respond before Anise continued, "Oh, hey! What about the maybe-not-so-bad-after-all Colonel?"

"I suppose that wouldn't be so horrible..." Alex conceded with a shrug.

"Oh?" Natalia asked, "I had no idea you felt way."

"Felt what way?" Alex asked before her eyes widened in shock, "Wait, no way am I interested in the Colonel!"

"He's not so bad," Anise told her, "You just have to get to know him better. But I always thought you liked Guy?"

"I know that," she replied, "It's just... He's like ten years older than me. That's just weird. And I thought we'd changed the subject?"

"Sorry," Anise laughed, "But come on! Age isn't everything!"

"So long as they have money, right?"

"Boo..."

"Either way," Ion said, chuckling at Anise, "I thought I saw him walk off with a woman through the window a little while ago."

"What?" Anise yelled, "But there are four beautiful women right here!"

It was Ion's turn to laugh. "Yes, I know. Quiet down, Anise, there are people trying to sleep."

"Right, sorry."

"Speaking of sleep," Tear interrupted, "We have a long day ahead of us. We should all get some rest."

The next morning they all met in the lobby of the hotel. They were waiting for Nephry to tell them everything was set with the Tartarus, and then they could leave.

The girls were watching Mieu roll around on the floor out of boredom, and Guy and Luke seemed to be in the middle of a serious conversation, Ion thought maybe Luke was talking to him about Alex. Jade and Ion were left to wait patiently in silence for Nephry to join them.

Everyone turned their attentions towards the door when it opened and Nephry appeared.

"The Tartarus is finished being inspected and resupplied," she told them.

"Then let's head off to Rotelro Bridge." Luke said as his conversation with Guy ended.

Anise sighed, "And then we walk from there... Colonel? You'll carry me if I get tired right?"

"I'm afraid not," Jade replied, "Perhaps it's my age, but my joints ache, you see."

Anise rolled her eyes, "Right."

"What are we waiting for?" Alex asked, "Let's go, we don't have a lot of time before St. Binah starts falling."

"Indeed," Natalia said, "Let us be on our way."

"Please have a safe journey," Nephry said as the group left the hotel and went on their way.


	12. The Curse Slot

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss, only Alex is mine.**_

* * *

_Chapter 12: The Curse Slot _

Ten days.

Two hundred and forty hours.

Fourteen thousand and four hundred minutes.

Yulia knows how many seconds had passed since Alex had last spoken properly with Guy.

She wanted to, but she had been so stubborn about the whole damn thing that she wouldn't know what to say to him. She still didn't exactly want to apologize to him, because in her mind she still thought Guy had overreacted, but when she thought about it she realized that she may have overreacted a bit herself; he was only doing his job after all. When she really thought about it, she realized he may not have done anything at all if Alex had stopped the creep herself; but she didn't do anything, so Guy had intervened.

So there they were, waiting with the rest of the group in Theor Forest for Jade to return and take them to Grand Chokmah. They were still not speaking to each other, and somehow that ended in the rest of the group being silent themselves. Alex wished they wouldn't she might have been more focused on something else if they would stop walking on eggshells and strike up a conversation. That way she wouldn't have her thoughts trained on the one person she wished she could just speak normally to again.

They were all sitting in a circle near the entrance of the forest, with Anise off to the side throwing rocks at a tree, in awkward silence when they heard it; a soldier's scream coming from just a small ways away.

Without saying anything to each other, they all got up and ran off in the direction of where the scream came from, looking for the person who had made the sound.

He was lying only a small distance away from where they were supposed to wait, face down in a puddle of what was most likely his own blood. There was a deep slash along his back, one that only something like a sword, axe, or something similar could make. Alex had a bad feeling about it.

Natalia and Tear had quickly made attempts at healing him, and though the green light had managed to heal a bit of the wound, they stopped. Tear shook her head with a solemn look on her face while Natalia looked away form the man with tears in her eyes, even though the man was a soldier from another country. It was Natalia's soft side showing, and she was more than likely upset she hadn't been able to save another person with her healing artes. Up until Akzeriuth, she had always been able to help the people with her healing artes, it must have been hard for her to fail, once again, to save a person's life.

But it wasn't Tear's or her fault that the man was dying before them, it was the fault of whoever had inflicted that wound in the middle of his back.

Tear slowly turned the man over on his side so they could ask him questions, Luke taking the place right next to her in front of him.

"Who attacked you?" Luke asked, even though the man was struggling to breathe.

"The... Oracle... Knights..." he answered through ragged breaths, and then his head slumped to the ground, and Tear lay him on his back.

"What are the Oracle Knights doing here?" Tear asked to no one in particular.

"Do you think this is Master Van's doing?" Luke asked.

Alex had no idea why Luke would continue to call Van 'Master' after what happened in Akzeriuth, but ignored it and answered anyway, "He probably doesn't want us to save St. Binah. If he is planning to make the Outer Lands fall, he won't want us getting in the way."

"Either way," Tear said, getting up from her position at the soldier's side, Luke following suit, "The Oracle Knights are probably still here."

"Should we pursue them?" Guy asked.

"It would be dangerous to stand around while they do as they please," she replied, moving away from the man.

"They're probably after us anyway," Anise added, getting worked up, "And they killed an innocent soldier! I say we find and kill those bastards!"

If it weren't Anise, the rest of them would have been surprised by the sudden outburst. Nonetheless, Alex wondered if a thirteen year old girl should be saying such things.

"I agree," Natalia said hesitantly, she still wasn't used to Anise's language, seeing as it was quite vulgar whether or not it was a thirteen year old saying it, "We should pursue these men at once!"

"There are Malkuth soldiers everywhere in the forest," Ion said, as calm as ever, "We should do our best to not be spotted by them so we don't have to fight."

"So we'll basically be playing hide and seek?" Luke asked at once. "Awesome! I rule at that game!"

Alex sighed, remembering all the times they had played back in the manor. The truth was, whenever he had asked her or Guy to play, they had really never bothered to look for him. He was still an annoying ass at that point, and whenever he was hiding, there was more peace. Alex didn't know if he was actually good at hiding, though, since they had never really tried to find him, but either way she didn't have the heart to tell him.

"I bet I could beat you anytime," Anise smirked at him, crossing her arms.

"Name the time and place so I can prove you wrong!" Luke told her loudly.

"Guys, guys," Alex told them nervously, they were being too loud, "We really don't have time for this."

"At this rate," Natalia sighed, "We'll be caught before we even start."

"So everyone just decided to go right on in," Tear sighed, more to herself than anyone as everyone moved as stealthily as they could into the forest, which admittedly wasn't too stealthily.

It went well at first; sneaking around the soldiers. Half of them seemed like they were staring blankly into the distance, too bored to care that much about their post or think anyone would want to sneak into the forest, and the other half were so easy to distract it was laughable; they'd just get Mieu to head butt a tree or a rock to make some noise while the group quickly passed the soldier when he went to check out the source of the noise. All was going well until they reached a point where there was a group of soldiers instead of just one.

"Maybe they'll be stupid enough to all go check on the noise when Mieu head butts a tree?" Anise whispered hopefully.

"I doubt it," Guy answered darkly.

"It's still worth a shot," Luke whispered, shrugging, "You never know until you try. Mieu, go headbutt that tree."

"Yes, Master," Mieu said in his quietest voice possible before quickly running to the tree Luke had pointed to and headbutted it.

To Alex's surprise, they fell for it. All of the soldiers ran towards the tree to check on the noise. Were they stupid or something?

The group made a break for it. It was amazing how easy this was. Alex was too confident in how well they had been doing, she wasn't paying attention to where she was running, and as a result she tripped on a horribly placed rock.

The noise cause the rest of the group to turn around, unfortunately the soldiers turned as well.

"Hey!" one of them yelled as Alex struggled to get up. "Get them!"

The reaction to that was instantaneous, Anise quickly moved to guard Ion, and Natalia and Tear started casting.

Apparently the guards decided Alex was the best person to take out first since she was still on the ground; she had managed to twist her ankle. All four of the soldiers were charging straight at her. Alex tried to grab her sword, but she wasn't fast enough. She closed her eyes as they came closer with their swords held high, ready to strike. She prepared herself for the impact.

But it never came.

When she opened her eyes she saw Guy and Luke in front of her, swords out and holding them off; protecting her.

Somewhere in the midst of it all, Anise cast a powerful Limited, leaving two of the four unconscious, while Tear cast Field Barrier to protect everyone close enough to the soldiers to be hurt. Natalia had stopped her casting to help Alex up and lead her away from the commotion to heal her ankle, Luke guarding them as they went.

Guy and Luke quickly took out the last two soldiers, deciding to leave them unconscious instead of killing them, they were only doing their jobs after all.

"Let's go," Tear said as soon as the soldiers were finished, "Before the commotion brings any more soldiers."

With Alex's ankle now healed, she was able to run into the next clearing with the rest of them. When they figured they'd be safe from any soldiers, they stopped; completely out of breath.

"Thank you," Alex said awkwardly once she regained her breath. "For saving me back there."

Guy looked like he was going to respond, but Tear cut him off. "It's too soon to celebrate, look over there." she said, pointing toward another fallen Malkuth soldier that Alex hadn't noticed.

"Do you think it was the Oracle Knights?" Anise asked as Natalia ran towards the soldier to see if she could help.

An answer wasn't necessary as Largo the Black Lion appeared as if from nowhere, slamming the tip of his scythe into the ground where Natalia was before she swiftly dodged it. The force put behind the scythe had created a small shock-wave for Natalia to dodge as well before responding with an arrow.

Largo blocked the arrow with his scythe, laughing all the while. "Nice shot, Princess." He smirked.

"You're Largo," Natalia replied, bowing another arrow, "From the Zao Ruins."

"You should pay more attention to your surroundings, girl."

A few of the group members took their eyes off of Largo for a moment to search the area for any other Oracle Knights when Guy ran at Luke, his sword raised.

Luke jumped out of the way just as Guy attempted to slash at him, confusion written on his face, "Guy?" he asked incredulously as the blonde charged at him again.

"What's going on?" Alex asked worriedly as Luke was forced to unsheathe his sword to protect himself.

"Oh no!" Ion cried from behind Anise, who had taken to guarding him the moment Largo showed up, "It's the curse slot!"

Alex remembered what happened in Chesedonia when Guy had been possessed, for lack of a better word. She didn't know what to do as Tear and Natalia frantically healed Luke and casted support whenever Guy succeeded in slashing him. It looked like he seriously wanted to kill Luke, and there were a couple times where he had almost succeeded in doing that.

Guy continued to back Luke into a rock wall while the redhead was left to only guard his blows, he clearly didn't want to fight his own friend.

It took a moment for Alex to register Ion's words as she was paying more attention to Guy and Luke, wondering how she would be able to help. If she didn't act soon, Luke could be hurt, or even killed.

She quickly drew her sword as Natalia asked if Sync was nearby, as they had more or less come to the conclusion that he was responsible for the curse slot.

Alex raced to where Guy and Luke were as Luke tripped backward over a rock, allowing him to escape one of Guy's attacks with only a shallow cut on his cheek. She only hoped she would make it in time to intervene as Guy raised his sword above his head, ready to deal the final blow.

As if by some miracle, Alex didn't have to intervene, a sudden earthquake did the job for her. She didn't even mind that she was knocked off balance.

Guy lost balance long enough for Luke to crawl away from him, and Tear seemed to notice something in one of the nearby trees. She shouted for Natalia to shoot an arrow at it, and when she did, Sync the Tempest fell from one of the limbs, an arrow sticking out of his arm.**_  
_**

"Damn," He hissed, clutching where the arrow stuck out of his arm, a thin line of blood trickling from where the arrow impaled him, "The earthquake gave me away."

The arrow shot at him caused him to lose control of the curse slot, and Guy fell to the ground without warning, unconscious.

"Oh well," Sync sighed, pulling the arrow out of his arm, even with the mask covering his face, Alex doubted he flinched, "Naturally, we'll be taking the Fon Master."

"Like hell you will!" Luke yelled in response, starting to dash at Sync.

"What's going on over there?" someone shouted from the distance. Luke stopped in his tracks, looking in the direction of the voice.

"Damn, it's the Malkuth soldiers," Sync growled, "Largo, we're retreating for now."

Before anybody could stop them, they were gone. It was strange to see someone as big as Largo move so fast. Not that it mattered all that much, Guy's well-being was more important at the moment in Alex's opinion anyway.

"Who are you people?" a Malkuth soldier out of a group of five asked as Luke went to pick Guy up off the ground.

"A group of Oracle soldiers had attacked some of your men," Tear explained, "We were merely tracking them down so they wouldn't do more harm. One of our men was injured in the process."

"But you have Oracle Knights in your group as well," another one of the soldiers observed, "Arrest them."

"I guess we shouldn't resist," Luke sighed, holding Guy off the ground.

"Of course not," Tear replied coldly as the soldiers all moved toward them.

* * *

_**A/N: Someone may say my math was off with the amount of minutes, etc, at the beginning, but The amount of hours in a day, days in a week/month/year, are different in Auldrant...probably just to make things more complicated. Anyway, I have yet to find a site that says exactly haw many days are in a month, so if someone could link me to that, I would be forever grateful. xD**_


	13. Guy's Past

_**Disclaimer: You know the drill. I do not own Tales of the Abyss.**_

* * *

_Chapter 13: Guy's Past_

"Colonel Curtiss asked me to meet you at the forest's entrance, but it seems you entered the forest before I could do so."

When the group was arrested, the soldiers wasted no time in bringing them to the city, where they met Brigadier General Frings; a man with the whitest hair and greyest eyes Alex had ever seen. But Alex wasn't worried about that; she was more concerned about Guy.

He was still unconscious, with Luke still holding him upright, and the curse slot seemed to be putting him in a lot of pain. Alex honestly didn't care about what the others were saying to them; Guy was definitely more important, but she thought it might be important as well, so she forced herself to listen.

"I apologize," Tear was saying, "Malkuth soldiers had been killed. We thought it would be dangerous not to act."

"Don't apologize," Frings replied, he seemed like a nice enough man, "We should be thanking you. Unfortunately, we'll still have to treat you like prisoners until your audience with His Majesty."

"Who cares about that?" Luke responded, all manners flying out the window, "Guy needs help!"

Alex silently agreed, she didn't care about being treated like a prisoner either if it meant Guy got some help.

"He's had a curse slot placed upon him," Ion elaborated for Frings, "It's so deep, he can't fight it. I can remove it if you can lend us a place where he can rest."

"You can do that?" Luke asked him.

"I'm probably the only one who can."

"_Then why didn't you do it after he was taken control of in Chesedonia?"_ Alex thought bitterly, before remembering that they were all more worried about Akzeriuth at the time. This was Sync's fault, not Ion's.

"This curse is a type of Daathic Fonic Arte," Ion continued, "A fonic arte passed down only through Fon Masters."

This confused Alex. If only Fon Masters knew how to use them, how was Sync able to place the curse slot on Guy in the first place?

The thought was forced out of her head when Guy mumbled something incomprehensible. She went from confusion back to worry.

"We'll get you a room at the hotel," Frings said, "What about your audience with His Majesty?"

"I'll see His Majesty the Emperor at another opportunity," Ion answered, "Right now, I'm worried about Guy."

"All right, I'll leave my men with you."

"Thank you."

"I'll go too," Anise said immediately, "I'm Ion's guard."

"Me too," Luke said as a pair of soldiers took Guy away from the group and toward the hotel.

Ion held out a hand to stop Luke from following, a serious look on his face, "You're going to find out anyway, so I might as well tell you now. The curse slot does not allow the user to take full control of the one he's using it on."

"What does that mean?..." Alex asked slowly when Luke didn't respond.

"Guy wouldn't have attacked Luke if he didn't already have a strong desire to kill him."

* * *

Luke didn't exactly take what Ion said well. He went back to being as depressed as he was when he first found out he was Asch's replica. Alex didn't blame him, she'd be depressed too if she found out her best friend wanted to kill her.

Luke didn't stick around with the rest of the group after Ion and Anise left with Guy, he just walked away, telling the others not to follow him. Tear and Mieu didn't listen and followed him anyway, which Alex considered a good thing due to the fact that Luke was liable to dream up nonsense if someone wasn't there to smack some sense into him. Today that person was Tear; Alex didn't have the heart to do it.

She knew it wasn't true - that Guy hated Luke. He was the one that wanted to go back for him the most after all. Thinking back to the past, Luke did piss a lot of people off, including Guy. Akzeriuth alone would be enough of a reason for somebody to want to strangle the idiot, whether they were his friend or not.

General Frings had told the members of the group that were left after Ion, Anise, and Guy left to take a look around the city before their audience with His Majesty. Natalia had asked Alex if she wanted to go for a walk with her, but she had respectfully declined, deciding she'd rather have the time to think to herself.

Somehow she ended up leaning on the railing of one of the many bridges in the city overlooking the water. It truly was a gorgeous place. She could stare at the water forever if she had the option too.

"_I almost wish I could move here," _She thought with a sigh, _"Too bad father wouldn't allow it... War or no war, he hates Malkuthians..."_

It was true; her father would never let any child of his move to Malkuth. Especially not Alex, whose future husband, (whoever that was, her father would choose) was meant to be the next Duke of Kimlasca. Luke was now a question mark. Whether or not Asch or Luke would marry Natalia was undecided. It was a shame. In Alex's opinion, Malkuth had all the beautiful cities, and she'd be stuck in Baticul all her life.

"Keterburg, Grand Chokmah... I've heard St. Binah's pretty too. I hope we can save it..."

"Speaking to yourself?"

Alex didn't need to turn around to know who it was; she'd know that sarcastic voice anywhere.

"Hey, Colonel," she mumbled, not bothering to face him.

"You know," he stood next to where she was leaning on the bridge railing. Alex could hear the smirk in his voice. "You shouldn't talk to yourself; people might think you're crazy."

"You must be seriously delusional if you actually think I care about that right now."

"Yes, I heard about what happened," Jade said; all the sarcasm lost from his voice, "You're wondering why Guy didn't attack you as well?"

That had actually crossed her mind. The man had to be psychic or something.

"How did you-"

"I could tell by how depressed you look. Though I will say there is most likely a good reason for why he wouldn't attack you."

Alex turned her head to look at him, "If you're going to suggest it was his phobia, I doubt that's it. Ion said the curse slot paralyzes rational thought, he wouldn't even think about the fact that I'm a girl. He wouldn't care."

He actually smiled a little at her words, "My thoughts exactly. I do have a another hypothesis, though I don't think I'll share it with you until I know for sure. Who knows, I may not even share it when I am certain," He shrugged and then turned away, walking towards the castle.

"You really need to stop saying things like that!" Alex called after him, glaring at his back as she started to follow him. She continued when Jade stopped, his back to her. "It's really annoying."

Jade laughed, "Yes, well. The others are waiting at the castle for us. It's time for our audience with His Majesty."

* * *

The first thing Alex noticed about the castle was it was a little smaller than the one in Baticul. That and it was blue. _Very_ blue.

Tear seemed to have gotten Luke to feel a little better; he didn't seem as depressed anymore. Natalia and Jade seemed completely normal, and Mieu was just as cheerful as he usually was.

Normally Kings and the like were a little intimidating to Alex, her father and uncle certainly were, but Emperor Peony seemed different as they approached his throne. He seemed relaxed and he was smiling, something she never saw her father do. She maybe saw her uncle smile once or twice in her lifetime out of pride for something Natalia did. That was the main difference between her uncle and father, Ingobert cared deeply for his daughter, and spent what little spare time he had with her. The Duke never really seemed to care for his children, shunning them and getting the maids and servants like Guy to raise them. If it weren't for her mother, Alex and Luke would have basically grown up without parents.

"Ah," Emperor Peony said as they approached him, "You must be the ones dragging my Jade all over the place and keeping him away from home."

"_I guess they really are best friends," _Alex thought. Luke seemed to have forgotten Ion saying so in Keterburg; Alex could practically see the question mark hanging over his head.

"...What?" he asked.

Peony continued as if Luke hadn't spoken. "And then he goes and gets hit with a fon slot seal. This clod can be a real pain, huh?"

"N-not at all, Your Majesty," Luke immediately replied, looking uncomfortable.

Jade sighed, "Your Majesty, must you confuse our guests?"

He laughed, "Sorry. Yeah, I guess we should get down to business."

Alex smiled; she was already beginning to like this Emperor. He didn't seem like a 'King' at all. In fact, he seemed like a pretty fun guy.

"Jade's basically explained everything to me."

Luke started speaking for them, "As things stand now, there's a danger that St. Binah could fall into the Qliphoth."

"So it seems," Peony stated, "In fact, I've already been informed that the land around St. Binah has begun sagging."

"Then we have to evacuate the residents as soon as possible!" Alex said, hardly aware she was saying the words as they were coming out of her mouth.

"I'd love to, but a lot of the council members are reluctant."

"Why?" Natalia asked, "Their countrymen are in danger!"

"Because of the military threat from Kimlasca," Jade answered simply.

One of the men beside Peony's throne, Nordheim, elaborated for him, "The kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear issued a proclamation."

The older man beside him, Sesemann, continued. "'We hereby denounce Malkuth's destruction of Akzeriuth in order to bring about the deaths of Princess Natalia and the tertiary heir to the throne, Luke fon Fabre, as well as daughter of the Duke, Alexandra fon Fabre,'" He quoted.

"_That's right," _Alex thought, _"They don't know we're alive."_

"That's a declaration of war," Tear stated, looking grim.

Luke instantly protested, "But I'm the one who-"

"Luke," Jade interrupted, "We all know what happened. That isn't the problem right now."

"Yes," Peony said, "The council believes the sinking of St. Binah is Kimlasca's work."

"So they think any sent will be wiped out along with the city." Tear summarized.

"Exactly. Until we heard Jade's story, we thought Kimlasca had developed a fontech weapon capable of creating a hyperresonance."

"Seriously?..." Alex asked.

Luke replied to Peony as if Alex had not spoken. "At the very least, Kimlasca was not responsible for Akzeriuth."

"Even if it were," Alex started, "St. Binah is still going to fall. How could _not _rescuing the people possibly be better?"

"Exactly," Luke agreed, "If it's impossible for you to send troops, then please let us go."

"I'm surprised," Peony stated, "Why would royalty like yourselves be so intent on helping an enemy country."

"We're not enemies," Natalia protested, "Our citizens travel between our countries as if it were perfectly normal."

"I want to save everybody I can," Luke said, more to himself than anyone else.

"Perhaps Luke and my unit could evacuate St. Binah, while General Nordheim contains the northward Kimlascan army," Jade suggested.

"Thanks man, I owe you one." Peony replied, as he got up off his throne and walked towards Luke. "They're my dearest people, please help us save them."

* * *

"Guy!" Luke shouted as they all went into his room at the hotel. Ion seemed to have just finished removing the curse slot, as Guy was just putting his shirt back on. He looked up when they all entered, confused at how serious Luke looked.

"I'm sorry."

Guy still looked confused. "...Luke?"

"I must have done something to make you suffer. That's why you..."

Guy started laughing, "What the hell are you talking about? It's not your fault, Luke." The smile on his face was replaced with a small frown. "It's not your fault I hated you so much I wanted to kill you."

There was an awkward silence in the room before Guy started speaking again, "I'm originally from Malkuth..."

"What?" Anise and Alex asked in unison. Jade was the only one who didn't seem all that surprised.

"I was born in Hod," Guy continued, "On my fifth birthday my relatives gathered at my mansion. Just as the Scorer started to read my Score, the war began."

Alex knew what was coming next; her father was the one in charge of the attack on Hod. She knew all too well because of her being beaten by those men when she was four. It was because they didn't agree with what the Duke was doing in Hod that it happened. This made her all the more confused, however. If that was the reason for him attacking Luke, wouldn't that be all the more reason for him to attack her too?

It was Natalia that confirmed what she was thinking. "If I recall, it was Duke Fabre who attacked Hod."

"Yes," Guy said darkly, "Duke Fabre killed my family, my relatives, our servants. Everyone. He destroyed everything I loved and laughed as he did it." Alex began to feel uncomfortable as Guy spoke, it was her father who did all those things.. "So I set out to make him experience the same thing I did."

"You entered House Fabre for revenge, then?" Jade asked him. "Gailardia Galan, of the House of Count Gardios."

Guy paused, looking slightly surprised. "...Oh. You knew, huh?"

"I noticed a few things, so I investigated. You fight in the Sigmund style, a technique that doesn't use a shield. It's unique to Hod."

Luke spoke, ignoring most of what Jade just said. "You can't really want to be by my side, can you, Guy? I may be a replica, but I'm still a Fabre..."

"Come on," Guy sighed, "I mean... I'd be lying if I said I didn't have any lingering feelings, but... If you want me gone, then I'll cut ties with you right now."

It was Alex's turn to speak. "...No."

"Huh?" Guy asked, turning to her, looking surprised that she was actually speaking to him.

"How about we leave these two alone?" Jade suggested.

None of them argued, and they all filed out of them room without a sound.

Guy was watching them leave, so he didn't notice when Alex threw herself at him, hugging him around the middle and causing them both to hit the floor with a _thud_.

Guy froze instantly when she made contact with him, then started to shake violently until she moved away from him seconds later.

"S-sorry," Alex said, kneeling on the floor a small distance away from where he was now sitting, stock-still. She mentally kicked herself when she realized she was crying.

"W-why would you do that?" Guy asked, still shaking, looking at her with wide eyes. "You know about my phobia!"

"I know, sorry," Alex said again, looking at the ground. "I'm sorry... For everything."

He stopped shaking at her words, "Alex?"

"I completely overreacted," she continued in a small voice, "You were only trying to protect me."

"I thought you said that was the problem..." Guy said.

"I know!" Alex cried, wiping her tears away, "I'm so stupid! I shouldn't be complaining about that, you were only doing your job..."

"I still would have protected you even if it weren't my job," he told her, matter-of-factly, "Besides, you were right; I shouldn't have gone as far as I did. There were plenty of better ways to take care of the situation. I know you can take care of yourself."

They were both silent for a while.

"So..." Alex eventually said, no longer crying, "We're good then?"

He smiled, "Yeah."

Without having to say anything they both got up off the floor and left the room, heading out of the hotel to meet the rest of the group. When they left the hotel they saw them waiting, Anise started bouncing up and down excitedly when she saw the two of them.

"Did you make up?" she practically squealed.

"Y-yeah." Alex answered, a little apprehensive about what Anise's response would be.

Anise shrieked with joy and ran towards her hugging her the same way Alex had hugged Guy.

"I'm so happy," Ion said, as Anise let go of Alex. "We were worried you'd still be fighting."

"Guy-" Luke started before Guy interrupted him.

"Could I stick around for a little longer?" he asked, "There's still something I want to confirm."

"Okay," Luke answered, "I trust you. No, I should say, trust me, Guy. Please."

Guy laughed, "Either way works for me."

"Hey," Anise said suddenly, "I just thought of something. Alex is Duke Fabre's daughter, so why didn't Guy try to attack her too?"

"I don't know," Guy answered in a strange voice. "Maybe it was because of my phobia?..."

Alex was about to reply to that before Jade cut her off. "That is a possibility." He said; ignoring the confused look Alex gave him. He really was an amazing liar; everyone else seemed to buy it.

"At any rate," Jade continued, "Now that that's all settled nicely, shall we head for St. Binah?"

"Ion is drained from healing the curse slot," Anise said, "He and I will stay here."

"Anise, I'm fine," Ion protested, "I may be able to help if I go with them."

"Ion!" she whined.

"Van's still after him anyway," Luke told her, "We should take him along in case the God-Generals come looking for him again."

"Fine," she pouted, "You get your way again, Ion."

"Thank you, Anise."

Alex couldn't help but smile at everything now; she and Guy had made up. Everything was well again. And now they were going to save St. Binah. They wouldn't fail this time, they were going to save the townspeople.

* * *

_**A/N: Am I the only one that instantly thinks of defeating the Huns every time I see Peony say "let's get down to business"?**_


	14. Dist the Reaper

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss. All I own is Alex.**_

* * *

_Chapter 14: Dist the Reaper_

All was now well in Anise's world again... Well, minus the whole 'St. Binah is falling' part. But at least Guy and Alex had made up, so the atmosphere of the group was no longer awkward. She hadn't gotten her way when the group agreed to take Ion along, but after thinking for a bit she realized Ion would be safer from Mohs for a while longer. And Mohs couldn't exactly be mad at her for going along with Ion's orders; it was her job. She was sure her parents would be fine.

Because of how well things were suddenly going (the group hadn't had any problems getting to St. Binah), Anise couldn't help but smile when they arrived. The only problem they had was the fact that Ion and Guy didn't get a chance to rest after the curse slot was removed, and it was only an issue because they had to walk to St. Binah. As a result, Anise and Alex had spent the entire trip fussing over the two of them.

_"You two look like the walking dead..." Alex had told them, a worried expression on her face._

_"Yeah..." Anise agreed, looking equally worried, "You're both resting the second you get the chance to, got it?"_

_"Anise, we're fine," Ion had assured her with a smile._

_"Yeah, we should be able to take care of St. Binah, no problem," Guy added._

_Anise wasn't completely convinced, and by the looks of it neither was Alex, but they both reluctantly backed off._

_"...Alright." Alex had finally agreed, still looking worried, "Just promise me you'll rest when this is over, okay?"_

_"Alright," Guy had laughed, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to a good night's rest anyway."_

Anise had always thought it was super romantic, even with Guy's phobia, that a girl like Alex from a royal family would like one of the servants in her manor; that stuff didn't happen in real life. And now that they knew Guy was really from Hod, and his family was killed by Alex's father, she thought it was even more romantic that he would like her too (or at least she had a feeling he did, she actually wasn't certain Alex liked Guy that way, come to think of it), despite the fact that she was related to his parents' murderer. Anise even went so far as to think the reason Guy didn't go through with his revenge was because of Alex, though half of her debated that he was just too good a person to kill innocent people for the sake of revenge.

Anise had even planned to write a romance novel about the two of them to make some easy gald off the housewives of the world. But she'd probably have to come up with her own ending, since the journey looked like it was coming to a close, and she didn't think she would see much of any of them again. She wasn't going to tell anyone about the book idea though, in case Alex or Guy told her not to do it.

On the 'Guy being from Hod' front, Anise could tell that both Luke and Alex were uncomfortable with the fact that their father killed his family. Guy had even pulled the two of them aside to talk to them; Anise assumed he was telling them not to worry about what their father did.

"I don't think Guy's phobia was the reason he didn't attack Alex in the forest," Ion whispered suddenly in Anise's ear, making her jump. She had almost forgotten what she was doing.

Most of the others were already getting the citizens of St. Binah ready to evacuate; Jade had already brought the order to evacuate to Field Marshall McGovern, and was now walking towards Anise and Ion, joining the conversation.

"Huh?" Anise asked the green-haired boy.

"I don't think Guy's phobia was the reason he didn't attack Alex," Ion repeated with a small smile, not sounding irritated in the least about having to repeat himself.

"Alex and I came to the same conclusion," Jade said as he approached them, "We spoke about it before seeing His Majesty."

"So Alex figured it out too..." Ion sighed.

"What are you two talking about?" Anise asked them, now very confused.

"The curse slot paralyzes rational thought," Ion explained, "Guy wouldn't remember he had a phobia of women, so it wouldn't effect him."

"Yes, exactly," Jade confirmed, adjusting his glasses, "Actually, there's been something I've been wondering about in regards to Alex lately.

Anise wondered what he could have meant by that. Then she realized something, Alex had mentioned that she couldn't remember the first four years of her life because of a trauma.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, "Alex said she was suffering from memory loss because of an incident... Don't tell me she's a replica too?"

"I don't think that's it. Besides, Guy attacked Luke even knowing he's a replica," Ion told her.

"Yes, that's true," Jade agreed, "And it isn't exactly uncommon for someone to not remember the earliest years of their childhood. But I have been wondering about that incident as well. Luke told me that a group of men assaulted her at the age of four. I have to wonder where the guards possibly were at that time. I highly doubt a four year old girl, nobility or not, would be wandering the streets of a city like Baticul alone."

"You think her parents have been lying to her?" Anise and Ion asked in tandem.

"I don't know," Jade replied, "I can't say for certain, but I do have a hypothesis." He sighed before continuing, "At any rate, I'd rather she not hear about this conversation, understood? In fact, let's keep this between us, don't tell anyone else."

"Of course," Ion nodded.

"R-right..." Anise said, still not fully understanding what he had said.

"Hey! You three!" Luke shouted at them from the other side of the plaza they were in, "Talk later; you should be worrying about St. Binah right now!"

"I hate to admit it," Jade sighed, "but he's right. Let's focus on what we're supposed to be doing. My troops will escort the civilians to Engeve; unfortunately we have to abandon the city. Please, help the citizens get ready for evacuation."

"Yes, Colonel!" Anise replied before running off to help a small group of elderly women who looked like they didn't understand what was happening.

**...**

Luke didn't want a repeat of what happened in Akzeriuth. More than anything, he didn't it to be his fault again if something did go wrong.

St. Binah was already starting to fall; the multiple earthquakes and sinking ground they in the area was proof of that. As a result, Luke was working as hard as he possibly could to get the residents safe and ready for evacuation.

"Keep it up, Luke!" someone shouted as he was carrying an old man to the group of people who were ready to depart.

He turned to see Guy and Alex watching him while leading a group of children to their parents; Alex was currently holding the hand of a young crying girl.

"You're doing great!" Alex shouted in agreement before turning back to the children.

Guy said something to her, to which she nodded, and then ran off in the direction of some elderly men who needed help. The two of them were acting like nothing ever happened between them.

When they were all growing up, Luke always resented the fact that Guy, his best friend, always got along more with Alex than anyone else in the manor. Sometime in the past few years, he had gotten over that. And now that they all knew about what his and Alex's father did in Hod, he wondered why Guy liked her so much.

When he thought about it, he realized that Guy and Alex met before he, the real Luke's replica, was born. Alex must have gotten his interest before Asch was kidnapped.

As Luke frantically helped the people of St. Binah, he remembered he wasn't the only one who desperately wanted to save St. Binah, Guy had told him and Alex that St. Binah was his first place of refuge after Hod in a conversation the three of them had on the way to the city. During that same conversation, Luke had asked Guy if he still hated Asch. He could still hear Guy's response.

"_Don't ask, I'd hate for Natalia to overhear."_

So that was a yes. But Luke had more important things to worry about, like the fact that the city was falling, and Ion, Anise, and Jade were standing around having a conversation at the other side of the plaza.

"Hey! You three!" Luke shouted at them, "Talk later; you should be worrying about St. Binah right now!"

Just as the three of them dispersed, a very unwelcome guest showed up.

"I found you, Jade!" Dist the Reaper shouted from above the city in his floating chair.

"Who is that?" Natalia asked as the group rejoined, preparing for an attack.

Anise immediately launched into an explanation, "Oh yeah. You and Alex have never met him. This is the God-General, Dist the Rea-"

"ROSE!" the white-haired man shouted at her, a horrible scowl on his face, "R-O-S-E, Rose. Dist the Rose."

"Oh yeah," Alex said, "Dist the Reaper. I've heard of him."

"How is one as beautiful as myself a reaper and not a rose?" Dist demanded.

"Is Mohs ordering you to do this?" Jade demanded, ignoring his question, "Or is it General Grants?"

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Dist replied, with a tired sigh, "Either way it's the same. I'll be taking the Fon Master with me."

"I'm afraid not," Jade said as Dist summoned one of his tacky 'Kaiser Dist' robots out of nowhere.

The giant robot fell to the ground, just outside the city, nearly crushing Mieu in the process. Luke dove to save him, rolling out of the way just in time.

"Thank you, Master!" Mieu squeaked.

"Go hide in the item bag, Mieu," Luke replied, stuffing him in the bag as Jade started casting.

_"Arise O violent waters to rout mine enemies! Blessed Drops!"_

The Kaiser Dist was bombarded with powerful water and bubbles, causing the machine to malfunction and explode.

"No!" Dist cried, "My precious Kaiser Dist!"

"That was… Pathetic." Alex said after watching the exchange, she looked thoroughly unimpressed before turning to Guy, "You like that kind of stuff?" she asked incredulously, pointing at the remains of the machine.

"His machines _do _tend to make other fon machinery look bad," Guy sighed, looking as unimpressed as Alex, "But it still distracted us. Look!" he pointed in the direction of the city, "There are still a lot of people in the city, and it's already begun to fall!"

He was right. In the short amount of time it took to defeat Dist's robot, the land surrounding St. Binah had begun to fall, leaving a deep chasm between the group and the city. There was no way they could get to the remaining residents.

"Dist!" Jade yelled, "What do you gain from this?"

"Replica data!" he replied, "I can bring her back if I do what they say."

Luke knew they were talking about Professor Nebilim, but the others looked completely lost.

"Are you still dreaming about that?" Jade asked angrily.

"You gave up before you even started!" Dist shouted back before turning in his chair and leaving.

"I don't think you'll catch him," Jade said to some of his soldiers that just arrived, "But follow him just in case."

Luke and the others were paying more attention to the remaining residents in St. Binah than to Dist.

"Jade!" Luke called so he could join them.

"Don't worry about us!" Field Marshall McGovern called to them as Jade approached, "Get the others to Engeve safely."

"I could jump over and sing a Fonic Hymn," Tear suggested.

"I don't think you could jump that far," Alex told her.

"Besides," Jade added, "There are too many people there for that to work."

"Ohhh…" Anise moaned, "If only we could fly over there and get them."

"Fly…" Guy mumbled before addressing the whole group. "Hey! I heard they were doing flight experiments in Sheridan!"

"Flight experiments?" Alex asked, "Seriously?"

"Yeah! I heard they excavated an ancient hover drive from the Dawn Age, so they've attached it to some machines and are trying to fly them. All the fon machine buffs are talking about it."

"Now that sounds like something worth obsessing over," Alex replied to him, causing Guy to raise an eyebrow at her.

"It's true," Ion confirmed Guy's comment, "I approved of the experiments myself."

"Alright," Jade said, sounding sceptical, "Say we do go to Sheridan. Who's to say we have enough time?"

"Van said it took days for Hod to fall," Tear replied, "There's a force called the dividing line between here and the Qliphoth, Van said Hod began to fall faster once it passed that line."

"Well… The situation does look different from Akzeriuth."

"So then let's go!" Alex said, "Even if it does take days for St. Binah to fall, we still don't have time to waste!"

"I agree!" Luke said.

"Yeah!" Mieu squeaked in agreement, peeking his head out of the item bag.

"You're right," Jade finally sighed, "Let's get back to the Tartarus."


	15. Of Highlands and Hover Drives

_Chapter 15: Of Highlands and Hover Drives_

"…Sheridan is technically part of Kimlasca, but experienced craftsman from all over the world live there. You know how there's a huge canyon around Sheridan? The dry rocks from there are invaluable for building fon machines, especially weapons. Sheridan is pretty close to Daath, too, so they can sell battleships and landships to Malkuth as well. So—"

"Umm, Guy?" Luke asked, interrupting the blonde's fon machine rant.

"Yeah?" Guy turned to see Luke and Alex sitting against one of the walls of the cabin they were in; Alex with her head on Luke's shoulder.

"I think you've literally bored Alex to sleep."

And so it appeared. The group was on the Tartarus, on their way to Sheridan to find out more about the flight experiments Guy had mentioned. Tear had made the mistake of asking where Sheridan was, and Guy had wasted no time in answering in a full-scale fon machine rant.

Guy wasn't paying attention to what the rest of the group was doing while he was talking, and so didn't notice when Alex fell asleep on Luke's shoulder.

"It looks like we don't need the First Fonic Hymn if we can just get Guy to bore the monsters to sleep…" he heard Anise mutter, he saw Tear and Natalia nod from the corner of his eye.

"Guy's fascination with fon machinery sure is…great," Natalia said, looking confused as to why he would think fon machinery was so fantastic.

"I'd call it more of an obsession," Jade stated, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "In a way, he actually reminds me of Dist."

"Don't compare me to him!" Guy cried, appalled at the comparison, Luke looked like he was fighting the urge to laugh to avoid waking Alex up.

"Please don't take it the wrong way, Guy," Ion said.

"How could I take being compared to Dist any other way?" Guy thought before the green-haired boy continued.

"I'm sure Alex was just tired. I don't think she's been sleeping well lately."

"Oh, he was talking about that. Wait, Alex hasn't been sleeping? I wonder if she's been having those dreams again… I don't think she's had them for a while… Since before Akzeriuth, I think? She used to have them every other night back in Baticul, it's good they're becoming less frequent. Then again, maybe it was because of our argument or what happened in Akzeriuth that she hasn't been sleeping, and she can't exactly have those dreams if she's awake all night…"

Guy snapped out of his thoughts when Alex mumbled something incomprehensible in her sleep. Guy was almost positive he heard her say the name 'John'.

"John? I've never met anybody named John," Guy felt a strong, unfamiliar emotion bubble up inside of him. "Who is he?" he asked to nobody in particular.

The atmosphere around the group was suddenly very awkward.

Jade cleared his throat to break the silence. "At any rate… I think Alex has the right idea; you should all try to get some rest before we reach Sheridan. We should be arriving in a couple of hours." He turned to Guy before continuing. "Guy? Didn't Alex tell you to rest on the way? You especially should go do that; we wouldn't want Alex to be upset with you, would we? We all know she's not in the best of moods when she first wakes up…"

"Alright, I get it, I'll get some rest."

"You have to get some rest too, Ion." Anise told the boy in question.

"Okay…"

"Aren't you going to get some rest too, Jade?" Luke asked.

"I'm afraid not. I'll have to be awake to manage the Tartarus. I'll be off to the bridge now." He turned to leave the room, stopping at the door, "All of you get some rest; I'll tell you when we arrive."

With that, he left the rest of the group in silence.

"What are you going to do, Luke?" Natalia asked, obviously referring to the sleeping Alex on his shoulder.

"I don't want to wake her up if she hasn't been sleeping…" he replied quietly. In reality he probably just didn't want to be the one to wake her at all, nobody ever did.. "You all go, I guess I'll just have to manage somehow." He laughed awkwardly at the situation.

"I'll stay with you, Master!"

"Shh! You be quiet, Mieu," Luke whispered to the cheagle, "Your voice alone is enough to wake anybody up."

* * *

The whirring of machinery. The clanking of craftsmen working on their latest inventions and weapons. Even the smell of the fuel and oil being used. Everything about Sheridan was getting Guy more and more excited by the second.

The same couldn't be said for the rest of the group. The girls were all wrinkling their noses because of the smell, and later started to cover their mouths and noses. Mieu actually tried to block the smell with his overly large ears before hiding in the item bag. Luke looked like he wanted to get straight to business, Ion looked concerned, and, as per usual, Jade looked amused with everyone's reactions to the town, he didn't seem bothered by the smell or anything.

"Come on, you guys," Guy tried, "The smell isn't that bad."

"Says you," Luke replied raising an eyebrow at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're always playing around with fon machines in your room back in Baticul," Alex answered, still covering her nose. "You're used to the smell of oil, we're not."

Guy was about to respond when Tear cut him off.

"How do we know that the mechanics will lend us their flight craft?" she asked, cutting to the chase.

No one seemed to have an answer for her, even Guy couldn't think of a way for them to be convinced.

"Maybe we could use my cuteness?" Anise suggested, her voice slightly muffled by the hand she was covering her mouth and nose with.

"I doubt that will work," Jade told her.

"Boo…" Guy could tell by her tone of voice that she was pouting. "Fine. Then how about we use Alex and Tear's sexy bods?"

"Excuse me?" Alex asked. Guy noticed she was no longer covering her nose. She didn't seem as bothered by the smell as the other girls, possibly because she and Luke spent a lot of time in Guy and Pere's room, much to their father's disliking. She still didn't seem to like the smell, though, she was still wrinkling her nose in distaste.

"I couldn't possibly do that…" Tear added to Alex's question.

"But Anise," Jade said to the young girl, "What about Natalia?"

Natalia didn't look too pleased about being brought into the conversation; she looked even less pleased by Anise's answer.

"Oh yeah! I forgot she was a princess. Maybe we could use her status?"

"… But Father doesn't know I'm alive," Natalia eventually answered, still looking annoyed.

Anise was looking irritated now. "Then we'll just have to pull out the big guns."

"Do you know what she's talking about?" Luke asked Alex.

"I'm not sure I want to…" Alex muttered, making Guy smile and Luke laugh.

"I'm talking about Ion!" Anise told them, "He's like, the biggest gun there is!"

"I'm sure we'll be able to negotiate something," Ion said.

"I was wondering when she'd suggest Ion," Jade said, an amused smirk playing across his face.

"You mean we could have avoided that entire conversation?" Alex asked him, clearly annoyed.

"Guy?" Natalia asked, changing the subject, "Where do we go to meet the engineers?"

"This is my first time actually being here, so I don't know the way. But I would guess they'd be at the aircraft dock, they might even be at the town's Meeting Hall."

"Well the Meeting Hall's right across the street," Anise pointed out, "So let's go there first."

As they approached the door to the building, they heard voices from inside.

"…I could see it plain as day! The gusts over the Meggiora Highlands are going to blow it off any minute!"

"Oh come on, Aston," said the voice of an older woman.

"Aston," Guy said, he was pressing his ear against the door to listen, "So the people in there must be Sheridan's Class M." he whispered to the others, "Great, we lucked out; they're the people we need to talk to."

"Are you sure you're not just going blind, old man?" the woman Guy knew had to be Tamara, continued. Everyone leaned in closer to the door so they could hear.

"You know you only get farsighted with age, Tamara," Aston replied, "I can see far away just fine."

"This is bad. We could lose the hover drive!" another man's voice said, it was raspier than Aston's voice. Guy knew it had to be Iemon.

"How can you talk like that, Iemon?" Tamara asked, disgust in her voice, "That's your grandson, Ginji, trapped up there! Aren't you worried about him?"

Alex removed her ear from the door, "Maybe we should go in and ask what's wrong?" she suggested.

The others nodded, and Anise opened the door. The three elderly people took notice of them instantly.

Tamara, who appeared to have been jabbing the one named Iemon with a ruler, wasted no time in asking them what they wanted. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry," said Aston, the mostly bald man with small bunches of grey hair on the sides of his head, "but we're busy at the moment. You should come back at a better time."

"We couldn't help overhearing the situation," Luke told them, "Did something happen?"

Iemon, who had darker skin and a blonde mohawk, and eyebrows that covered his eyes in matching colour, seemed to consider telling them the situation.

"… The Albiore crashed in the Meggiora Highlands," He finally told them.

"The Albiore?" Guy asked, fearing the worst, "You mean the machine equipped with the ancient hover drive?"

"Oh no…" Anise whined, "Did we seriously come all this way for nothing?"

"No," Guy told her, "I heard two hover drives had been excavated."

"You heard correctly," Iemon said to him, "But the second hover drive hasn't been so much as started up yet."

"Iemon, there isn't any time to chat," Aston said, "We have to think of a way to save Ginji and the hover drive!"

"Right," Iemon agreed, turning to Aston, "We can attach the hover drive to the Albiore II and resume experiments."

Tamara jabbed him again with her ruler, "You're a heartless old man!"

"The Meggiora Highlands are teeming with monsters," Jade said, "Any rescue team you send may need rescuing themselves."

"We don't have any choice but to send a rescue team," Aston said, "If it's the only chance we have at saving Ginji and the hover drive, then so be it."

"How about we go instead?" Luke suggested, turning to Iemon, "If we do save Ginji and the hover drive, could we borrow it? There's something we need it for."

"What would you possibly need it for?" Iemon asked.

"Please, allow me to explain," said Ion, "I'm Fon Master Ion. I'm sure you've all heard about what happened to Akzeriuth?"

"You mean the city that fell?" Tamara asked.

"Yes, exactly. St Binah is in danger of meeting the same fate. It's falling as we speak. It would mean a lot if we could borrow the Albiore to save the city's people."

"Please?" Natalia asked Iemon, "I am Princess Natalia, beside me are Luke and Alexandra fon Fabre. We would very much appreciate it if you could help us save those people."

"I see," Iemon said thoughtfully, crossing his arms, "I must say, it's a surprise to see the three of you alive and well. And working to save Malkuth citizens no less…"

"It doesn't matter who's from Malkuth or Kimlasca right now!" Luke shouted.

"That's true," Tamara said, "But we also have our own problems to worry about. You seem to have all forgotten, the Albiore I crashed on a cliff in the Meggiora Highlands!"

"The pilot is trapped," Aston added, "And the Meggiora winds are in full force. It could fall at any moment. On top of that, all of the soldiers in the area are getting ready to fight Malkuth, so we can't form a rescue party!"

"Then we'll go," Luke told them, "I already said we'd do it."

"Well said, Luke!" Natalia praised him, "That's how true royalty acts!"

"It doesn't have anything to do with royalty!" Luke said to her.

"What?..."

"I just… I have to do what I can. Helping people has nothing to do with being royalty or nobility or whatever. That's all it is!"

Natalia seemed shocked by his sudden outburst. Guy was proud, he'd known since Luke said he was going to change that he meant it, but now he was starting to gain everyone's trust again. Even Jade seemed both pleasantly surprised by his words.

"Some of us have had military training," Tear told Iemon, "Would you entrust the rescue to us?"

"We'll still go regardless," Guy added, "But if we do recover the hover drive, we'd like to borrow the Albiore II."

"The Albiore II isn't finished yet. We still lack some parts for the drive system," Iemon explained, "And with the war, most of the necessary parts are being used for landship construction."

"The Tartarus was originally a landship," Jade said, "Please, use anything on it you can."

"Are you sure, Jade?" Luke asked.

"Ion, would you please stay here and show them to the Tartarus?" Jade asked, both ignoring and answering Luke's question, "I'd like to have the Albiore II completed while we recover the hover drive."

"That's fine with me," Ion replied.

"If we get the parts," Iemon said, "I'll work on finishing that craft like my life depended on it."

"So then let's head for Meggiora!" Luke announced.

"Where is it, exactly?" Alex asked Aston.

"The highlands are southwest of here," Aston answered. "Also, take these with you." He handed Luke and Guy each a launcher.

"What are these?" Luke asked.

"They're launchers, right?" Guy asked, looking at Aston.

"Yes," Aston replied, "Secure the Albiore with these launchers. Then lower it down the cliff. Do you know how to use them?" he asked Guy.

"Yeah, and I'll explain how to use it when the time comes. But Jade probably knows how to use them too."

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," Jade shrugged.

"I swear," Guy sighed, "It's impossible to tell what you're thinking."

* * *

"That must be it."

The group had safely made it to the Meggiora Highlands. Tear was the first one to see the Albiore, which was up on the highest cliff of the highlands, occasionally rocking back and forth. It didn't look like it would fall right that second, but they still had to hurry; the winds in the area were getting worse and worse.

"This isn't good," Jade said, his expression dark, "If we don't hurry, it could fall before we make it there."

"What'll happen if it falls?" Luke asked.

"The pilot certainly won't survive. The hover drive could be destroyed as well."

"Oh no!" Mieu shouted.

"We'll have to hit both sides of the craft with the launchers," Guy explained.

"So we'll have to split into two groups, then," Alex sighed. "It won't be as safe, but if we have to do it…"

"How should we split up?" Tear asked, "Who do you want to go with, Luke?"

"Well…" He answered, "If we're splitting into two groups… I want Tear, Alex, and Guy with me. You guys promised you'd watch me, right?"

"Hold on, Luke." Alex said, "If all three of the sword users are in one group, that could mean trouble for the others. You go with Guy and Tear; I'll go with Natalia, Jade, and Anise. That way each group has a healer, and a swordsman, and Anise can join me at the frontlines since she doesn't have to stay by Ion. It's best that Guy and Jade are on separate teams too, if they're the only ones that know how to use the launchers."

"Interesting…" Jade stated.

"What?" Alex asked, turning to him.

"Oh, nothing." He replied, shrugging. "You just thought of that rather quickly. Have you ever considered joining the military? You seem to have a good grasp on strategies, unlike Luke."

"Just because I'm related to him doesn't mean I'm an idiot," she replied with a smirk, making Guy and Anise laugh, the comment even made Jade smile slightly.

"H-hey!"

"Now that we've figured that out," Tear said, annoyed with the change of subject, "We should go. So Guy and Jade are going to be the ones with the launchers, then?"

"It seems that way."

"It's a fon machine, leave it to me."

"We'll see you soon, then," Alex said, as everyone separated.

…

It had only been a few minutes since the group separated, but Alex was already worried about the well-being of the others.

"I must say, it's a little concerning not having the problem child with us."

"Luke should be fine, Colonel," Alex told him, "He has Tear and Guy with him. If he gets out of hand they'll keep him in check. Still, I am worried about them."

"Hey, Alex," Anise started, tilting her head like a curious child, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah..." Alex replied, for some reason a little concerned about what Anise was going to ask, "What's up?"

"How would your relationship with Guy even work? I mean, with his phobia and all."

"W-what?" Alex replied, stopping in her tracks, blushing furiously, "What are you talking about? We're not… We're just friends."

"Yeah right," Anise said, rolling her eyes, "And I just got back from a first-class tour of Auldrant on one of Emperor Peony's magical flying rappigs. Seriously, it's romantic and all, but maybe you'd be better off going after someone else? Someone without a female phobia. Like the Colonel even?"

"Oh, I doubt she would be interested in an old man like me," Jade shrugged, as Alex started walking again.

Alex was still blushing, "We came here for a reason, Anise," she said, trying to regain her composure.

Anise didn't look like she was going to stop; she looked like she was having fun.

"Honestly," Natalia added, a little annoyed with the subject, "Stop teasing her. We have to rescue Ginji and retrieve the hover drive."

"Boo… Fine."

They continued on their way in silence for a few moments, the winds getting fiercer and fiercer and blowing sand and debris into their eyes, slowing them down.  
Suddenly they heard thunderous footsteps coming from a distance; whatever it was, it was coming their way, and it was big.

"W-what is that?" Anise asked in a small voice.

"Everyone get ready," Jade commanded, his spear appearing out of thin air, "It's coming."

Everyone did as they were told, Alex and Natalia both drew their weapons, and Anise quickly grabbed Tokunaga and enhanced his size.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer, and they were running out of time. The others were probably already waiting for them by now.

And then the monster appeared. As its footsteps already informed them, it was huge. Alex had never seen anything like it before; it looked like one of the Dawn Age monsters she'd seen in books back in Baticul. What were they called?... A Rex maybe?

It was red with black stripes all around it, it stood on its hind legs and had a long tail it most likely used as its weapon. The most peculiar part was it had multiple swords sticking out of its back. Obviously people had tried and failed to kill it before, giving Alex a bad feeling about the situation.

Without warning, the Blade Rex lifted its tail and swung it down at Alex, who dodged it just in time.

"Whoa!"

"Be careful!" Jade told her, "It's faster than it looks."

Just as Jade said this, the monster let out a mighty roar and charged at Alex again, crashing into one of the many cliffs in the area when she leaped out of the way. Alex was sprayed with debris and she covered her face with her arms on instinct so nothing would get into her eyes. Some of the rocks tore her gloves and she could feel the sting of fresh cuts on her forearms from the small rocks that were hitting her.

Covering her face unfortunately lead to her not being able to see where the monster was, and it was too late by the time Anise yelled out her name in warning and she uncovered her face...Just in time to see the monsters tail coming at her from the side. Great.

She yelled out in pain as it connected with her side and she was thrown into the side of a nearby cliff. She was winded when her back hit the cliff, and she accidentally breathed in a lungful of dust and sand.

She hit the ground with a dull thud and she vaguely registered Natalia running toward her and kneeling at her side, charging up a healing arte.

She tried to move into a sitting position, wincing in pain and coughing all the while.

_"O, soothing light. Heal."_

Alex felt all the scratches on her arms heal over and the pain in her back subside. She was still in a bit of pain, but some of her energy had been restored and she had stopped coughing.

"Thanks, Natalia," she said before turning to Jade who was currently recovering from casting Splash on the monster while Anise was trying to fend it off on her own, "I don't think close range attacks are going to work! Colonel, what do we do?"

"Distract it while Anise and I cast! Natalia, help her with your healing artes in any way you can."

After saying this, all of them immediately set to casting, leaving Alex to dodge the monster's tail over and over again as it thrashed at her. She'd had a couple more close calls with it, and there were occasions where some of the exposed part of the blades in the monster's back had cut her. The wounds weren't too deep or terrible, but they still stung like hell and Alex had brief moments of relief when Natalia got around to healing her before the monster sent rocks tumbling down from one of the cliffs again. Yay, more obstacles to avoid.

_"Unyielding aegis! Barrier!"_ Natalia shouted, casting a protective light around Alex.

"Thanks!" Alex shouted to her as she dodged the monster yet again.

The monster seemed to notice that Natalia was helping her, and without warning it turned around, Alex jumping over its swinging tail, and started toward the princess. Natalia stood frozen in shock upon noticing this, and without thinking Alex ran toward the monster and leaped onto its tail while it was still, running up it onto its body and thrusting her sword into the small of its back.

It cried out, outraged and began to thrash around, Alex holding onto the hilt of her sword for dear life. She had her eyes closed tight so she couldn't see a thing, and finally the monster managed to buck her off, sending her rolling onto the ground a few feet away. It was better than being thrown into a wall at least.

_"O darkened storm cloud, loose thy blade and run mine enemies through! Thunder Blade!"_

The lightning sword smashed through the monsters back and exited through its belly, then exploded in a surge of electricity that went through the giant monster, causing it to cry out in pain.

_"O twisted door of distortion, open wide!"_ Anise yelled while the monster was unable to move, "_Negative Gate!"_

A black and purple portal surrounded the Blade Rex, its violet and black blades cutting into it and releasing its negative energies. The Rex howled in pain once again before falling to the ground, dead.

"We…did it…" Alex gasped between breaths. She had cuts and scratches all over her from the small, sharp pieces of rock that the Rex had thrown her into. Some of the rocks were embedded in her skin, and she was bleeding everywhere. Damn, the bloodstains on her shirt and gloves would get some questions from the others, and she would have to patch up her clothes again the next time they stopped at an inn. An infinite supply of clothes would have really come in handy for their journey.

Natalia quickly ran to Alex's side started to perform a healing arte but suddenly stopped herself, when Alex asked her why she stopped, she explained that they'd have to remove the rocks before she could heal her.

"Oh joy..." she replied before looking down at her clothes to see what damage the monster caused. It almost looked like she had decided to dye her clothes red. If it weren't for the tears, how wet and shiny the blood was, and the occasional spot where purple was still visible, nobody would have known it was blood. Though all the dust and sand collecting on her wet clothes had made the blood look less shiny and metallic.

"You look..." Anise said as she approached her, returning Tokunaga to its real size as she went, "Horrible. Like a crazed serial killer or something. Your hair even looks like a tangled, dirty mess."

"Thanks, Anise," Alex replied sarcastically, "Always good to know what other people think of me."

"We don't have time to chat," Jade informed them, "We have to hurry, the situation doesn't look good. We'll have to worry about healing Alex once the hover drive and Ginji are safe. I presume you can hold on until then?"

Alex nodded and as quickly as she could in her condition she went to the monster's body and located her sword, pulling it out of its back with a sickening squelch. At the beginning of their journey that sound probably would have made her throw up. She wasn't sure her being used to that sound was a good thing.

Thankfully the Albiore wasn't that far. They could see it from a few meters away; the Albiore was rocking back and forth on the cliff more dangerously than it was before.

The group ran as fast as they could the rest of the way, Alex lagging behind, not that it mattered much since Jade was the one with the launcher, to see that the others were already at the other side of the cliff waiting.

"What took you so long?" Guy shouted from the other side, "We were starting to worry!"

Alex was about to shout back, but Jade cut her off.

"We'll explain later! Worry about saving Ginji and the hover drive for now!"

"Alright, let's do this! Jade, don't try to tell me you don't know how to use that launcher!"

"Honestly," Jade replied so only Alex, Natalia, and Anise could hear him, aiming the launcher at the Albiore, "You shouldn't be so rude to your elders."

Alex couldn't help but smile a little at the comment.

* * *

"Thank you so much for rescuing me," Ginji said, scratching the back of his light blonde head.

"Are you hurt?" Luke asked him.

"No. Thanks to you all."

"Let's talk on our way back to Sheridan," Tear said, "We've got the hover drive. There's no time to lose."

"Yeah," Luke agreed, "Ginji, can you walk?"

"Yes. I'm fine." He replied, "Thank you again."

"So what took you guys so long?" Guy asked again, turning to Alex as Luke and Tear continued to speak to Ginji. "Does it have to do with why your clothes are all torn and bloody?..."

"Well..."

"There was this huge monster blocking our way!" Anise told him, "It was one of those old rexes in the books in Daath! It had a whole bunch of swords and weapons in its back, probably from. We tried to get past it without fighting but it smashed its tail into a nearby cliff and Alex had to cover her eyes so rocks wouldn't get in them and then it swung its tail at Alex and I tried to warn her but then she was thrown into a cliff...And then the monster was like...and then I was all 'No way!'...and then Alex thrust her sword into its back!...and then it threw her to the ground...And then the Colonel hit it with a thunder blade and I finished it off with a negative gate!"

"...And thus concludes our thrilling adventure," Alex said.

"That's...quite the tale," Guy said, before turning to Alex, "Is it all true?"

"Slightly fabricated."

"What parts?" Luke asked.

"Obviously not the parts where you were injured," Tear said, looking closely at the tears and bloodstains in Alex's clothes.

"I'm fine. Natalia healed me, I just have to fix my clothes later. No big deal,"

They all looked at her with eyebrows raised.

Alex rolled her eyes, "Alright, yes I could have died about three times over today, but really, what else is new? It's not like our lives have been danger free up until now. We're all alive, we saved Ginji and the hover drive; let's just forget it happened."

"I suppose you're right," Tear said.

"Do you think they'll have the Albiore II finished when we get back?" Natalia asked.

"I hope so," Alex said, "I've had enough of these highlands. Let's just get Ginji back to Sheridan, get the Albiore II, and then save St. Binah."


	16. Faltered Score

_**So recently I've been asked if someone could draw Alex and Guy together. Seriously? Hell yeah. If any of you feel like you wanna do that for some reason, or want to draw any OCs of mine that come up, by all means, do so. Just please credit me for the OCs and my story, because obviously you can't credit me for the game or any of the already existing characters, and tell me if you do draw them and put them on deviantart or something, because I'd like to see them and favorite them. ^-^**_

**_On with the chapter. Happy reading!_**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss, I do, however, own any OCs that pop up in this story.**_

* * *

_Chapter 16: Faltered Score_

"Thank you again for saving me. I'll go deliver the hover drive to my grandfather. I don't think it will take long for the Albiore II to be completed, but if you feel you need to prepare, please don't hesitate to do so."

The group had just returned to Sheridan with Ginji and the hover drive. Ginji had run ahead of them to the aircraft dock to deliver the hover drive to Iemon and the others, leaving the rest of them alone at the entrance to the town.

"What do you guys think?" asked Alex, "Should we maybe get some more gels or something? We have a pretty good amount left, but…"

Luke thought about it for a moment. Did they have much more time before St. Binah fell? Jade seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Before we make that decision, might I just say that we have spent much more time than we first thought we would here. What we have for supplies should suffice for now, and I'm sure it doesn't take very long to attach the hover drive to the Albiore."

"No," said Guy, "It shouldn't anyway. And with Sheridan's Class M, it probably won't take more than a few minutes."

"Alright," said Luke, "Then let's just hurry to the aircraft dock for now. We probably don't have much time before St. Binah falls."

Nobody argued, and they all made their way down the road Ginji had used, hoping nothing else would slow them down. They hadn't got far before they heard the clink-clanking of armour behind them. Luke quickly turned his head while still walking to see a group of Kimlascan soldiers running toward them.

"They must be the nuts who sailed over here on a Malkuth landship!" one of them shouted.

"They have a Malkuth soldier with them!" another said, pointing at Jade.

"Uh-oh..." Luke sighed as he turned his head back in the direction he was running. He saw the others had noticed the soldiers as well.

"Hurry!" Anise shouted.

The others didn't need to be told twice, or once for that matter, they all ran, one by one, into the aircraft dock. Guy quickly closed the door behind them and proceeded to hold the door closed so the soldiers couldn't get through. The soldiers seemed to be putting up a fight, more than once they had almost succeeded in opening the door.

Luke took his eyes off the door to see Iemon, Tamara, and Ion notice their sudden appearance.

"Ah," said Iemon, "You're back! Aston's about to attach the hover drive right now!"

"Open this door immediately!" shouted one of the soldiers. Guy looked like he was having trouble holding them back.

"What's going on?" Tamara asked.

"Kimlascan soldiers saw us," Alex explained, looking worriedly at the door, "That pretty much sums it up."

"Oh, that's right," said Tamara, turning to Jade "You're a soldier from Malkuth. That reminds me, we took a load of parts from your landship. There were even some parts that aren't being manufactured anymore, it was a big help."

"Because of that," said Ion, "The Tartarus is no longer operable."

"Yeah, yeah, we can figure that all out later," said Alex, who was still staring at the door as if she expected it to explode at any second.

"But if the Albiore can actually fly, we won't need the Tartarus anymore," Anise said, ignoring what Alex said.

"What do you mean, 'actually'?" Aston's voice asked. Luke had to look around the room before realizing that Aston was being raised on a platform from a room underneath them, a great machine behind him. Luke knew this was the Albiore II; it looked pretty much exactly the same as the one that crashed in the Meggiora Highlands. Luke seriously hoped this one wouldn't crash. "The Albiore carries our hopes and dreams, it will never fall!"

"It already did…" Luke mumbled.

Alex was getting irritated now, "Guys…"

"Seriously, hurry it up!" Guy shouted, "They're breaking down the door!"

"What's the condition of the Albiore II?" Tear asked urgently.

"It's finished," Aston informed them proudly, "And the pilot's ready, too."

"We'll handle the soldiers," said Iemon, "Now hurry!"

"But the soldiers are quite irate," protested Natalia, "Perhaps I should tell them who I am…"

"There's no time!" Tamara told her, "Leave it to us!"

"Never underestimate the elderly," Aston added, "Now, take off into the great sky of dreams!"

With a bang, the door opened and everyone ran to the Albiore, Sheridan's Class M blocking the soldiers' way.

Upon boarding the Albiore, they were met by their pilot, a pretty blonde woman in a red pilot's jacket with white fur trim, red boots to match, and white pants, she also wore red goggles on her head.

"I've been waiting for you," she told them.

"Who are you?" Luke asked. Apparently he asked it rather rudely because he promptly received an elbow to the ribs from Alex.

"Ow!"

"Sorry about him," Alex said to the blonde woman, while Guy laughed, earning himself a glare from Luke, "You're the Albiore's pilot, right?" Alex continued, ignoring the other two.

"Yes, I'm Noelle," she said, "The Albiore II's pilot. Ginji, the Albiore I's pilot, is my older brother. I'll fly you to St. Binah in his stead; he needs a break after what happened in the Meggiora Highlands. Thank you for saving him by the way. Now, if you all would take a seat, we'll leave right away."

"Thank you." said Jade, "Let's not waste any more time."

...

Noelle had a little difficulty landing in St. Binah due to the terrible shaking in the ground, but once she had, everyone left the aircraft and hurried over to the citizens. The shaking had caused Alex to bump into Guy as she almost fell over, after which Guy had freaked out, as per usual, which resulted in Alex apologizing profusely for it.

"Mr. McGovern!" Luke said, forcing himself not to laugh at the situation so they could get back to business, "Are you all okay?"

"Ah, it's you!" McGovern replied, spotting the Albiore II, "What's that vehicle?"

"Field Marshal, we'll talk later," said Jade, "Right now, let's just get everyone on board."

All the citizens made a mad dash towards the Albiore, the group stayed behind to help the frail and elderly, as well as the children, along the shaking ground. Thankfully, it didn't take too long to get everyone on board. The second they were all accounted for, Noelle took off; and just in time too, the ground below them had just begun to descend.

Huge fissures appeared in an almost circular shape around the town, breaking houses and other buildings. The parts of the town inside the fissure all began to fall at once, while the parts on the outside of the fissures began to break apart, causing huge boulders of land to fall and smash into the falling city. Already through the cracks the thick haze of the miasma in the Qliphoth below could be seen. More boulders fell and sunk into the sea of mud and miasma. Finally St. Binah itself landed in the sea, causing a huge tidal wave of the poisonous mud to go in all directions.

The citizens watched in horror at what was happening to their home, and a sudden thought hit Luke.

"Where are we going to take the citizens?"

"How about Yulia City?" Tear suggested, "I'm sure Grandfather would take them in."

"Yulia City's in there, right?" Noelle asked, nodding towards the Qliphoth below them, "You'll have to tell me where it is, but I can take you there."

"Thanks, Noelle," Luke said, relieved.

"Allow me to express my gratitude," said McGovern as Noelle took them down. "But what's going to become of St. Binah?"

"I imagine it will sink into the mantle before long…" Tear said sadly.

"No!" McGovern protested, "Is there nothing we can do?"

Luke was just as upset about the situation. There had to be something they could do! After what happened in Akzeriuth, Luke had to find a way to make up for it, not that it was actually possible, but he had to find a way to save as many people as possible from the problem he had caused.

"This is like when Hod fell…" Tear said quietly, "They say it took a month to sink," Luke noticed a look of pain and anger on Guy's face for a second before it disappeared again. Alex seemed to notice too, she was looking at him concernedly.

"Hod…" McGovern sighed to himself, "Hmm… So this is revenge for Hod…"

Everyone who wasn't paying attention to their conversation shot their heads in their direction; all of them had confused faces, especially Guy and Tear. Only Jade didn't seem confused by his words.

"…Is there really nothing we can do for St. Binah?" Luke asked, changing the subject.

"It's sad to lose your home…" Mieu whined, his big ears drooping.

"It's already weird enough having the ground fall apart!" Anise groaned, "I can't think of anything. It's hopeless!"

Luke thought for a moment, trying to ignore Anise's words; she had to be wrong, she just had to be! Luke started out one of the windows in the Albiore and saw from a distance one of the Sephiroth Trees.

"What about the Sephiroth?" Luke shouted suddenly, snapping everyone away from their thoughts. "This place fell because Master Van messed with that passage ring thing and did something to the Sephiroth, right?" He felt proud of himself, he was actually coming up with an idea, as poorly worded as it was, rather than going along with something someone else said, "Can't we just bring it back?"

"But we don't know how to use passage rings," Tear argued reasonably.

"_Leave it to Tear to burst my bubble…"_

"Then we'll interrogate Master Van and—"

"Seriously?" Alex asked, shocked that he would even suggest such a thing.

"Luke, there's no way we could pull that off." Guy reasoned, "I understand how you feel, but…"

Luke was fed up of everyone saying things like that; no one could possibly understand how he felt right now. It was _his_ fault that all of this was happening, and they were all telling him that there was nothing he could do about it? There was no way he was going to sit back and watch as St. Binah sank into the mantle without at least trying to find a way to stop. And if the others didn't want to help, then fine. He would do it himself if he had to. But right now, he wanted nothing more than to set Guy straight about what he had just said.

"No you don't understand, Guy!" Luke said, shaking in anger, "None of you do!"

"Luke, come on…" Alex tried, putting a hand on his shoulder in attempts to comfort him, but he shook her off, he'd had enough.

"_I'm_ the one who destroyed Akzeriuth!" he shouted, he noticed some of the citizens stared at him in shock and anger at these words, that only made Luke more resolved to save St. Binah. "That's why I have to do something now! I know it won't make up for what I did, but if I could save this one city…!"

"Get a hold of yourself, Luke," Jade said sternly from the front of the Albiore, "You won't get anything done like that."

Luke was shocked, Jade was probably right. He wouldn't be able to think properly if he was blinded by anger. He wanted to cry, he was so frustrated with himself.

"Let's go to Yulia City," said Jade, "They know more about the Sephiroth than we do. Now that the Score's predicting St. Binah's safety has faltered…"

"Grandfather may be willing to help," Tear finished for him.

"And Luke," said Jade, "You sounded like a child a moment ago. Everyone here wants to save St. Binah."

Luke was left speechless, of course they did, how could he be so stupid? They had all worked so hard to save the city's residents… Luke stared at his feet, a little depressed.

Suddenly he felt someone taking his hand; he looked to his side to see it was Alex, smiling softly at him. "Don't worry," she said quietly, squeezing his hand in comfort, "We'll find a way to save St. Binah."

He returned the smile she was giving him half-heartedly as she took her hand back, hoping she was right.

"Yeah, Luke," said Guy, "So cheer up, alright? We don't like seeing you this depressed. We weren't angry at you or anything."

"Yeah," Alex agreed, "I'm actually surprised at how much you've changed. A few months ago you would have been complaining about having to go out of your way to save St. Binah, not trying so hard to stop without us telling you to," Luke laughed a little at that. He was pretty bad, wasn't he?

"We've all noticed how hard you're trying to change," said Tear, "You're doing a good job so far. Don't ruin that"

Luke smiled fully at them; Alex and Guy had always been good at cheering him up. Perhaps it was because they had mostly raised him themselves. Even Natalia seemed to make him feel worse about himself when she tried to cheer him up, and Tear seemed to be trying to keep his spirits up now too. "Thanks, guys. Now let's go find a way to save St. Binah!"

"That's the spirit!" said Guy, grinning widely and clapping him on the back.

…

Teodoro had been waiting for them at the entrance of Yulia City, no doubt he already knew about St. Binah falling. Jade guessed that even with how far they were from the fallen St. Binah the Watchers could see the land falling through the thick clouds of miasma.

"I figured you'd come," said Teodoro, "I've been waiting for you."

"Grandfather, please help us!" Tear begged, rather uncharacteristically, "We want to save St. Binah!"

"Yes," Teodoro sighed, "I suppose we must. Though we are fearful of deviating from the Score…"

"Before we talk,' said Ion, "I'd like to let the people of St. Binah get some rest."

"Let us take them in," Teodoro replied.

The citizens of St. Binah quietly made their way into the town, Noelle escorting one of the weaker elderly men. They all stared at the city in interest, since they had never known the city existed, but they still looked upset, they had just lost their home.

The Field Marshall thanked Teodoro before taking a few steps into the city, he stopped suddenly and began to speak.

"Luke, don't be discouraged."

"What?" Luke asked.

"Jade rarely scolds people. What he said earlier shows that he's taken a liking to you."

"Field Marshall!" said Jade, "Don't put words in my mouth!" Though he didn't like to admit it, the Field Marshall was right, to an extent. He saw potential in Luke, after he had realised that the redhead was capable of change, and no longer such a huge burden on the group. He believed that Luke was capable of doing great things if he tried, and he had the others in the group to set him straight if he faltered.

Jade believed that Luke was sincere in saying he wanted to change, and after a while the young replica had even managed to gain his trust, something that most people found was hard to do. Luke's scene in the Albiore was just a minor setback, he would be back on track soon enough, Jade was sure.

"Old folks don't have time to scold people we don't like," the Field Marshall continued, "Jade is no different."

Jade stared at the older man as he retreated into the city. After a while he shrugged, thinking he could get out of this without looking too soft, "Honestly, of all the things to say."

Luke stared at him, confusion on his face.

"I'm going on ahead," Jade said before leaving the rest of the group at the city's entrance. He smirked to himself as he heard Guy saying that even he had a few soft spots, perhaps they were right. But that didn't mean he was about to start acting friendlier toward them. He smiled at the thought of their reactions if he did start acting nicer. _"No, that would only scare them more."_

* * *

"Is there any way to save St. Binah?" Luke asked Teodoro.

They were all seated in the council room, waiting for Teodoro's response.

"Oh this is a difficult problem," he said, "If only we had the Key of Lorelei…"

"The Key of Lorelei?" Luke asked, "What's that? It sounds kind of familiar…"

"_Of course,"_ thought Jade, _"I keep forgetting he knows nothing about this sort of thing." _Jade sighed inwardly, "It refers to the Sword and Jewel of Lorelei." he told Luke, "It was used when creating the Planet Storm. I've also heard it referred to as the symbol of the pact between Yulia and Lorelei."

"Correct," said Teodoro, "The Key of Lorelei is said to be a fonic weapon created by Yulia using the power of Lorelei."

"The Sword gathers Seventh Fonons," Tear added, "And the Jewel disperses them. It's said the Key is made up of Seventh Fonons. Supposedly, Yulia summoned Lorelei into the Key and commanded that power freely…"

"Whether that is true or not," said Teodoro, "What is true is that it could control the Sephiroth."

"But the Key of Lorelei was cast down into the core once the Planet Storm was formed," Tear said.

"Yes… We cannot use something we do not have," Teodoro sighed, "In any case, I suspect it will be impossible to lift St. Binah back up to the Outer Lands."

"We really can't do anything?" asked Alex looking at Luke concernedly.

"We may be able to at least prevent it from sinking into the mantle."

"With the Sephiroth?" Luke asked, looking hopeful.

"Yes. They are controlled by devices called passage rings. By using the passage ring to restore the Sephiroth, we may be able to keep St. Binah afloat," Teodoro explained.

"Where is the passage ring for that Sephiroth?" Tear asked.

"At Shurrey Hill, to the east of St. Binah," he answered.

"That's where I was taken when I was captured on the Tartarus…" Ion said, more to himself than anyone else. "At the time, I thought the passage ring would still be protected by the Albertesque and Yulian seals."

The Albertesque seals disappeared when the passage rings for Hod and Akzeriuth were destroyed." Teodoro said simply.

"The commandant must have unlocked the Yulian seal so he could use the passage rings, right?"

Teodoro sighed, "Yes. Even we don't know how he did it."

"Let's worry about that later," Jade said, thinking they should get back to the task at hand, "How do we operate the passage rings?"

"They require the use of the Seventh Fonon."

"Great," said Guy, "We've got three people who can use that."

"Tear, Luke, and myself." Natalia confirmed.

"I hope Van hasn't done anything to damage the passage ring…" Alex sighed.

"That is a possibility," said Teodoro, looking grim.

"If it's east of St. Binah, then it's probably fallen along with the city," said Luke.

"Well then," said Jade as everyone got out of their chairs, "Shall we go?"

"Yeah," said Luke, determination on his features, "Let's go save St. Binah!"


	17. The Passage Ring

_**A/N: I think this chapter will be pretty short; it's just kind of leading into the next chapter.**_

_**Disclaimer: Do I really need to do this anymore?... I do not Tales of the Abyss. There. You happy, Namco?**_

* * *

_Chapter 17: The Passage Ring_

"Whoa! This is so cool!"

"Um… What's Guy so excited about?"

"Anise, are you telling me you really don't appreciate just how amazing these machines are? They have to be from the Dawn Age!"

Tear had to admit, even though she didn't really understand why Guy always got so excited about fon machines, the passage rings they had been to so far truly had the most amazing machinery she had ever seen. Granted, they hadn't had much time to admire the passage ring in Akzeriuth, and they were in a hurry to use the passage ring now in Shurrey Hill, but for once she understood why Guy was so amazed by the place.

For one, it was a mystery that a small area like Shurrey Hill could even be hiding a place like this. It was enormous; though the majority of it wasn't even taken up by machines or the platforms they had to walk on. There wasn't any ground that wasn't man-made, Tear expected that if someone was unlucky enough to fall off of one of the platforms, they'd find themselves in the planet's core. Not that they'd be alive if they fell.

The fon machines were unlike anything she'd ever seen before, and since she spent her entire childhood in Yulia City, that was saying something. The platform they had found their way too after entering the passage ring had intricate detailing itself. The floor on this platform was clear, except for light blue lines that went all around it, making different platforms. There was a giant hole in the center of the platform, and in the center of that hole was a great blue Fonstone, which glowed magnificently. The Fonstone was surrounded by what looked like an overly large tuning fork. On the platform in front of the machine was a stand, with a closed, golden book on top of it. Guy, who was taking a look at the Fonstone, attempted to open the book, but it didn't seem to want to open for him.

"Akzeriuth… Shurrey Hill…" said Alex, walking around the area cautiously, "The passage rings definitely feel strange…"

"That might be because they're from the Dawn Age," Tear explained as Guy rejoined the group after giving up on the book. "They were made to protect the Sephiroth Trees."

"Oh, right," said Anise, placing a finger on her chin, "So this place has been around for two thousand years."

"Indeed," Jade said, "The technology in here seems to be quite advanced."

"Yeah," Guy agreed, looking a bit put off, "They're definitely not your average fon machines. I don't have a clue what to do with them."

"Really?" Alex asked him, surprised, "If you don't know how to use them, how are we supposed to save St. Binah?"

"Grandfather said the use of the passage ring requires the Seventh Fonon," Tear told her, "Guy wouldn't be able to use them."

"Oh, that's right," said Alex, "I forgot."

"But how are we supposed to use the Seventh Fonons?" asked Luke.

Nobody seemed to know the answer to his question.

"There must be some way we can use it," Natalia said, determination in her eyes.

"I agree," Ion said, "Why don't we take a look around?"

Everyone went in different directions to take a closer look at the area. Tear noticed that some of them, like her, were moving slowly and watching their feet to make sure they didn't go off the platform, Tear suspected they had the same thought she had when it came to ending up in the core if you fell. The only one who seemed perfectly comfortable was the Colonel

Tear's first thought was to take a closer look at the book in front of the floating Fonstone. _"Maybe it would open for someone who could use the Seventh Fonon?"_

She felt uneasy as she made her way towards it. Nothing really happened as she approached it, so she hesitantly held out her hand to touch it. The second she made contact with its cover, the book opened on its own and began to glow a light purple.

"What…?" Tear asked to no one in particular as the others took notice of what was happening and moved closer.

Suddenly the glowing around the book started to circle around Tear and flow into her. It was painful for a moment, and immediately afterwards she felt sick and weak. She suspected she was suddenly pale as well.

Writing appeared above the passage ring in red, Tear noticed it was in Ancient Ispanian, as well as what looked like a diagram of the other passage rings.

"It reacted to Tear," said Jade, adjusting his glasses as he looked up at the diagram, "It says… 'Warning'. Is this the Yulian seal?"

"I don't know," said Ion, "But we can use the passage ring now."

Anise took a closer look at the book, "Hey, this writing looks like an explanation of the passage ring."

Jade walked over to the book and read for a few moments, everyone was looking at him expectantly.

"You've really outdone yourself this time, General Grants," he muttered darkly.

"Has my brother done something to the passage ring?" Tear asked him, feeling fresh anger towards her brother. If only she could have done something to stop him before Akzeriuth. Why did he want to destroy the Outer Lands so badly?

"He's closed the valve," said Jade, "Making it impossible to revive the Sephiroth Tree. He used a code to render the passage ring unusable. If I could use the Seventh Fonon, I'd break it myself, but…"

"What if I used my hyperresonance to break the code?" Luke asked hopefully.

Jade seemed to think about it for a moment. "If you could erase just the code, that might work."

Luke nodded and moved closer to the book.

"Luke, wait!" Tear protested, turning on him with her hands on her hips, "You can't control it yet!"

"I've been practicing." Luke told her simply, turning to her, "Besides, if I mess up here we're no worse off than if I'd done nothing."

Tear thought about it, he had a point. "…That's true. You're right."

Luke turned back to the diagram above, lifting his arms high above his head, ready to use his hyperresonance. Jade stood next to him to give directions, and the others stood back, away from them. Tear hoped the secret lessons she'd been giving Luke on how to use his hyperresonance would help him with this.

"See how the diagram representing the third Sephiroth is red?" Jade asked Luke, who nodded, "Erase just that red part."

Luke focused hard on his hands and a ball of white light appeared on the diagram. The light circled the red area around the third Sephiroth, and erased the red as it went.

When all the red was erased, the passage ring started making a soft whirring sound. Circles of light blue started forming around the Fonstone in the center, and memory particles started flowing from the core up to the Outer Lands.

"It's so pretty…" Alex sighed, "It looks almost like it's snowing."

"Yeah," Anise agreed, "But in reverse."

"…It looks like it's started up again," said Jade, "The Sephiroth has begun releasing memory particles to raise the land."

"Then St. Binah won't sink into the mantle!" Tear exclaimed, happy Luke had managed to save St. Binah.

"…We did it!" said Luke, looking as if he couldn't believe he had succeeded, "We did it!"

Before Tear could even register what was happening, Luke was hugging her.

"Tear, thank you!"

Tear was lost for words; she couldn't believe that the spoiled boy she had accidentally 'kidnapped' a couple months ago was hugging her.

"I-I didn't do anything," Tear stuttered, still not really knowing what to say, "You're the one who operated the passage ring."

"The passage ring wouldn't have started up if you weren't here!" Luke protested, finally letting go of her and grinning widely, "And everyone else too…! It's because you all helped, thank you all so much!"

Everyone just started at him in shock, Tear could tell they were having just as much trouble believing their ears as she was; even Jade seemed surprised.

"Well, well…" said Jade, pushing his glasses up his nose and seeming, for once, to have nothing to say.

"He doesn't sound like Luke at all," Natalia said, staring hard at Luke, as if she was waiting for him to turn into someone else.

"I don't see a problem with that," Guy told her, "I like him better this way."

"No kidding…" Anise and Alex said together.

Anise sighed and looked up at the diagram. Her eyes widened in shock, causing Tear to look at the diagram as well to see what she was so shocked about. She knew what it was immediately.

"Oh no!" Anise shouted, pointing at the diagram, "It's too soon to be celebrating! Look at that!"

"Whoa!" said Guy, who had read what the diagram said, "It says this Sephiroth supports the entire Rugnica Plains region!"

"So Engeve's going to fall after all…" Alex sighed, looking upset.

"This is seriously bad for Engeve!" Anise moaned, rubbing her temples in frustration.

"This is bad," Ion said, "We should get back to the Outer Lands immediately. We need to evacuate Engeve."

As everyone started to hurry out of the passage ring, Tear suddenly started coughing.

"Tear?" Luke asked, as everyone stopped and turned to her, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just a bit tired."

"We did spend more than a day on this," Natalia thoughtfully.

"And there's been so much going on lately," Alex added, "You should get some rest on the Albiore."

"Yes, I'll do that," Tear agreed. She didn't think she was just tired, but why was she suddenly so sick? It happened after she activated the passage ring; it probably had something to do with that. She was sure it would wear off after some rest. She pushed her thoughts aside as they hurried onto the Albiore and made their way back to the Outer Lands, not knowing what was in store for them when they arrived.

* * *

_**A/N: Yeah, so I skipped the dungeon part, I just thought that would be pretty boring stuff, not that this chapter was particularly interesting. As I said before, there wasn't much I could do with this one, you know? It basically just leads up to the next chapter, which I promise you, will be much more interesting/longer. Anyway, thanks for reading.**_


	18. Fate Has a Twisted Sense of Humor

_Chapter 18: Fate Has a Twisted Sense of Humor_

"Van sure is amazingly powerful, huh?" Anise asked, "I mean, he's smart, he's quick, he's great with a sword, he can use the Seventh Fonon… He's amazing! And he's even got a beard," she added matter-of-factly.

"Is his beard special…?" Natalia asked, tilting her head like a curious child.

The group had been in the Albiore for the past two hours, steadily making their way to the shining Sephiroth Tree that they had used to leave the Qliphoth once before. Seeing nothing but purple haze and a thick sea of mud and miasma for scenery for such an amount of time was just depressing in Alex's opinion, and she suspected that was why Anise decided to start up her conversation with Natalia.

"Of course!" Anise answered Natalia's question, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "That's where he gets all his power!"

"My… I had no idea…"

"And those eyebrows are amazing too!..."

"Is Anise actually _saying _these things?" Alex whispered to Guy and Luke as Natalia and Anise continued their conversation.

"Is Natalia actually _believing _them?" Luke whispered back.

Guy laughed, "It doesn't harm Natalia to believe these things. And Anise looks like she's enjoying herself. The only person who should really have a problem with it is Tear, and I don't think she'd mind."

Tear had been resting in one of the Albiore's rooms since they left Shurrey Hill. For whatever reason, she'd been weak since she activated the passage ring.

Jade joined their conversation, chuckling when Anise told Natalia that Van's eyebrows 'shoot hypno-rays'. "Regardless of the beard, he certainly is intelligent. Things will get difficult if he stays ahead of us."

"But even though we outnumber him, not counting the God-Generals I mean, we still wouldn't stand a chance against him," Alex said.

"And we don't even know where he is," Guy added, "And the God-Generals always seem to know where we are and what we're doing, it's amazing we managed to use the passage ring without one of them interfering."

"Asch might have an idea of where Van is…" Luke said thoughtfully.

"Asch, huh…" said Guy, looking suddenly grim.

Alex knew Guy didn't like Asch because he was the son of the person who killed his family, but she did wonder why he seemed to hate him so much when he was always so friendly with Luke and herself. Even if Guy had somehow known Luke was a replica, that wouldn't explain him being so nice to Alex.

"The Sephiroth Tree isn't much farther from here," Noelle said suddenly, snapping Alex out of her thoughts, "We should be getting back to the Outer Lands in a few moments."

"I'll go wake Tear up," Luke said before leaving.

* * *

"What are they doing?" Natalia asked, appalled at what the group was seeing from the windows of the Albiore, which was now high above the Rugnica Plains.

Soldiers of both Kimlasca and Malkuth were in an all-out war. Troops were killing each other left, right, and center. When they weren't attacking each other with swords they were using strange fon machines to blow fire at their enemies. There were landships like the Tartarus in use as well, ramming into each other and using fonic glyphs for both defence and offence. It took virtually no time before the ground was soaked in blood and covered in corpses.

"Why?" Natalia continued with wide eyes, "Why are they fighting?"

"This isn't good," Jade said, "Both armies could be completely wiped out. The Sephiroth Tree that used to be below this area is already gone."

"This must be what my brother was trying to accomplish," Tear said, she still sounded weak, "He knew about the War of Rugnica Plains from the Score. He wanted to eradicate the people of the Outer Lands, so killing all these people when the land falls must be what he wanted."

"He eliminates the Shurrey Hill tree causing both armies to fall," Jade summed up, "It's quite efficient."

"You've gotta be kidding!" Luke cried, "I don't know what his reasons are, but what he's doing is… is…"

"It's insane," Alex finished for him with a nod, "We have to stop them from fighting or they'll all be killed!"

"She's right," Natalia agreed, "If they're fighting here, then Kimlasca's main force must be at Kaitzur. I'll make them cease hostilities!"

"I'm concerned about Engeve," said Tear, "It's likely to be targeted as a supply point. Now that St. Binah's gone, that village is defenceless."

"So it could be attacked and destroyed before the land even falls?" Anise groaned, "Jeez…"

"We should split up," Luke suggested, "One team will check on Engeve, and the other will call for a cease-fire at Kaitzur."

"I should go to Engeve," Jade said, "Discussions for evacuation won't even start without someone from the Malkuth military."

"And I'll be going to Kaitzur," Natalia said, turning from the window of the Albiore to face the others, "They're more likely to cease-fire if the Princess of Kimlasca is ordering them to."

"That's true," said Jade, "Odds are this war started because they believe Natalia to be dead."

"Yes," she agreed, "Luke, you should come with me. Replica or not, you are still in line for the throne as far as I know. The people with more influence should come to Kaitzur to stop this war."

"In that case," said Anise, "You should take me and Ion with you too. Maybe they'd listen to the Fon Master if they don't listen to either of you."

"That settles it then," said Jade, "To keep things even, the rest of us will be going to Engeve, I'm sure they'll be able to convince the army to cease-fire without Alex."

"Thank you?" Alex asked sarcastically, crossing her arms at Jade.

"But-" Tear protested.

"I'll be fine, Tear," Luke assured her with a smile, "I know I asked you to watch me, but I think I'll be able to handle myself for this."

"…Alright."

"Yeah, Tear!" Mieu squealed, "I'll make sure Master's alright!"

"Then let's drop Natalia's team off at Kaitzur," said Jade, "Then we can head to Engeve in the Albiore."

"Sounds good," said Luke, "Let's go."

* * *

"Colonel! Is it true that the front line is moving north?"

Tear, Guy, Alex, Noelle, and Jade had dropped Natalia's group off at Kaitzur without interference from the war, and had flown straight to Engeve afterwards. Jade and Tear had seemed to know where they were going in the small village, and had lead the others to a woman named Rose, a small, round woman with dark red hair covered by a bandana. Rose had recognized Jade instantly and started asking questions.

"I think the defences will hold a bit longer," Jade replied, his hands clasped behind his back, "But the village is still in extreme danger."

"What should we do?" Rose asked nervously, "We can't evacuate to Grand Chokmah. They've already activated the capital's defences…"

"Yes," Jade sighed, "We have no choice but to evacuate to Chesedonia."

"The Order holds a strong influence there," Tear told Rose when she looked apprehensive, "It should be safe despite all the fighting nearby."

"I don't think it's possible to take the entire population on the Albiore," said Noelle, looking around at the people that were curiously approaching the group, "There isn't enough room. But I think there's enough room to take the women, children and elderly with me," she added, starting to count heads to make sure.

"Yes, you do that," Jade agreed, "But having the rest of them cross the battlefield on foot isn't exactly safe, even with soldiers to help us."

"Why don't you take those people on the Al—whatsitcalled?" Rose suggested, Alex noticed with a smirk that Guy twitched slighty at the butchering of the Albiore's name, "The rest of us will stay here and surrender to the Kimlascan army."

"It's not that simple," Alex sighed. Rose looked at her with confusion on her face as Noelle left the discussion to gather the people she'd be taking on the Albiore.

"You'll still be in danger of the land falling," Guy explained.

"Falling…? Wait, you mean like St. Binah and Akzeriuth?"

"Unfortunately," Jade said, looking grim, "Yes."

Rose closed her eyes in thought, "…Then we have no choice. We'll run to Chesedonia on foot."

"Why don't we leave the Albiore to Noelle?" Guy suggested to Jade, "Then we can escort those who are walking ourselves."

"Yes," Jade agreed, "But we will need more than just us. I'll speak with the Engeve standing forces. If they could spare even one platoon to protect our rear…" He left the group to find the soldiers he was talking about.

"Why don't we help Noelle get the people on board the Albiore while Jade does that?" Alex asked Tear and Guy.

"That's a good idea," said Tear, with the determination on her face, no one would have suspected that she'd been feeling ill lately.

* * *

Everything was going smoothly; Noelle had just left in the Albiore, leaving about half of Engeve's population with the others. Jade had managed to get a platoon to support them as they travelled, which would hopefully make the evacuation go at least somewhat well. They hoped it would mean there wouldn't be any casualties at the very least.

"If she finishes transporting them earlier than expected," Jade said as they watched the Albiore fly away, "She'll look for us. Though I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you."

"At least the Malkuth army lent us troops," said Tear, "We won't have to watch our back."

"Let's make sure everyone makes it there safely," Alex said quiety.

Nothing really happened for the first few hours. They had a couple close calls with some Kimlascan soldiers, but the Malkuth soldiers noticed the Engeve citizens and left them alone. It felt like they had been walking for days, Alex had realized that it would probably take a few days to travel to Chesedonia on foot, because they had to move more slowly when they had the citizens with them, and she knew it would take longer if they had any trouble from more Kimlascan troops. But after hours of walking, the sun was finally going down and everyone was setting up camp.

They were all exhausted and didn't talk to each other as they set up camp, which for them was plenty of sleeping bags and a few blankets as they didn't want to be loaded with supplies, it would only slow them down more.

"About how far are we?" Alex finally asked to break the silence as she collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion.

"About one quarter of the way there," Jade replied, "If things keep going the way they did today, we should be there in about three days. I think we're doing well under the circumstances, no deaths so far."

"Then let's keep it that way," Guy said, Tear and Alex nodded tiredly.

Alex wondered how Tear was doing, considering she was probably still sick.

Alex noticed from the corner of her eye a grown man walking toward them; he was clearly one of the citizens they were escorting.

"Excuse me?" the man asked Jade, "You were on board the Tartarus, weren't you?"

"Yes, I commanded the Tartarus," Jade replied, turning toward the man, hands clasped behind his back, "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Was there a soldier by the name of Marco amongst the crew?"

"Marco?" Tear asked, "Wasn't he your aide, Colonel?"

"The commander's aide!" the man exclaimed, hie eyes widening and a proud smile appearing on his face, "I had no idea he had advanced that far! He's my son! Man, my wife is going to be so proud when she hears! Where is he now?"

By the looks on Tear and Jade's faces, Alex already knew the answer to his question. She found herself staring at the ground, feeling suddenly awkward and wishing the ground open up and swallow her whole.

"With the way things are now," the man continued, not noticing the looks on thier faces, "Do you think he could be sent out to the front line?"

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this," said Jade, for once with some compassion in his voice, Alex expected he saved that compassion for occasions like these, "But your son was killed in battle during an enemy attack."

The proud smile on the man's face vanished and was quickly replaced with a look of shock and despair. "Wh-when? When did that happen? He was doing just fine when the Tartarus came to Engeve!"

"It was after that," Jade answered, "We were attacked by forces seeking to capture the Fon Master. Your son died an honourable death in combat."

The shock was beginning to wear off, but the man still looked full of despair. "…I see. So Marco died protecting Fon Master Ion… When Marco was born, a Scorer from the Order of Lorelei said to us, 'This child will someday aid a great and noble man.' They told us he needed to become a soldier…" he sighed heavily, "My son is dead… Yet his commander is alive and well. I know these two things aren't connected, but…"

The man seemed to lose the will to speak, and returned to the rest of the citizens.

"That means Marco died because of the Score…" Alex said quietly. She was really beginning to wonder why everyone loved the Score so much.

"Scorers will never read a Score of death," Tear said quietly, sitting down beside her. "Even if they know the Score leads to death."

"Why?" Alex asked her, shaking with anger, "Because if they do, the person involved will start making decisions for themself so they don't die? That's just wrong! It's exactly like what happened in Akzeriuth! The people in Yulia City knew it was going to happen and didn't do anything to try and stop it."

"I don't disagree with you," Tear said, shaking her head with a small smile on her face.

"Alex," said Guy, "I understand why you're angry, but please calm down. We already have to worry about evacuating the citizens."

"He's right," Jade told her, "Growing angry here won't help anything. The only person who should be upset right now is that man; he just found out his son is dead."

"…You're right," said Alex, trying to calm down, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," said Jade, "Just focus on the task at hand. Right now we should all get some rest, we'll be up early, and we won't be stopping until nightfall unless it's absolutely necessary."

The others silently agreed and got into their sleeping bags.

* * *

Alex gasped as she collapsed onto the ground. It was the second night of travelling and they were finally halfway to Chesedonia. The day had been just as uneventful as the first; the troops Malkuth had lent them were doing a great job of keeping the Kimlascan soldiers away. Still though, Alex's feet were killing her, and she was sure it was the same for the others.

"Some birthday, huh?" Guy asked her as he sat down across from her.

Alex had to take a quick look around them before figuring out that he was talking to her, making him laugh a little. "Oh! Yeah, I guess it is my birthday… There's been so much going on lately, I lost track of the date. If you hadn't said anything, I probably could have gone until my next birthday before thinking 'Oh, hey! I've been of age for a whole year! Cool.'"

Guy laughed again, "Well, happy birthday then."

"Thanks," Alex said, smiling at him. She would have said more, but Guy had gotten up again. Alex turned her head to see why; two citizens were walking in their direction. A grown man different from the night before was escorting a young woman who seemed to have a sprained ankle. Alex got up too and walked to meet them with the others.

"Excuse me," the man said, "Would one of you happen to be a healer?"

"I'm a healer," Tear replied, stepping towards them.

"What happened?" Jade asked, looking at the woman's ankle.

"Oh," the woman replied with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "I just fell and sprained my ankle. It's nothing too serious."

"I thought we told all the women to go on the Albiore," Jade said, narrowing her eyes.

"We told her that too," the man agreed, "But she wouldn't listen. Miriam said not to worry about her and take someone else instead."

"That's insane…" Jade said quietly.

"Why would you do something like that?" Alex asked.

"It's all right," Miriam said, "Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to die here, either. But I lost both my husband and child already, so…"

"Because of the war?" Guy asked.

She shook her head and lowered her gaze to the ground, her smile fading.

"Her husband worked in the mines at Akzeriuth," the man told them. The air around the group was suddenly awkward.

"My son, John, wanted to go visit him, and the city was destroyed during the time he was there…"

"O-oh…" was all Alex could manage, she felt very uncomfortable. At the mention of his name, she replayed John's death for the millionth time in her head. She felt very guilty, to say the least, being around his mother.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Jade told Miriam, "But in that case, it's all the more important that you survive. So you can live on in their stead."

"…Yes…" said Miriam.

"Tear, please heal her."

"Right," said Tear, kneeling down to use a healing arte on Miriam's ankle. After a moment she stood up. "How does it feel?"

Miriam moved away from the man holding her up, "Great," she said, smiling, "Thank you so much. Now I'll be able to walk faster tomorrow."

She looked around the group, smiling at them all, and her eyes stopped on Guy. "Oh," she said, moving toward him, "You have a piece of string coming off… Let me get that for you."

When she approached him, Guy jumped back several feet, causing Miriam to fall over from the shock. Alex quickly ran to help her up while Guy looked at her with wide eyes, like he had remembered something important.

"He has a fear of women," Alex explained, as she helped Miriam back onto her feet, still feeling a little uncomfortable around her, "Sorry, we should have mentioned something. Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine thank you," she turned to Guy, "I'm sorry; I didn't know about your phobia, I must have startled you."

"N-no," said Guy as he bowed to her, which shocked all of them, "I'm ashamed to have hurt a lady. You have my most humblest apologies."

"…Guy?..." Alex asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Miriam giggled, "You're a strange one. I would think you're some sort of noble."

Guy laughed nervously; he looked as uncomfortable as Alex felt around Miriam.

"Perhaps you should be getting some rest," Jade said to Miriam and the man who had escorted her.

"Yes, you're right. Thank you again for your help."

"You're welcome," Tear said as Miriam and the man went back to the others.

"Are you alright, Guy?" Alex asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Indeed," said Jade, an amused smirk on his face, "You're acting strange."

"I wonder why I'm this tense," Guy said quietly.

"It might be because we're on the battlefield," Jade replied.

"Yes," Tear agreed, "You should get some rest."

"Yeah, I'll do that." Guy left the group to go get a sleeping bag for himself.

"Are you alright, Alex?" Jade asked, clearly noticing her discomfort.

"Y-yeah," she replied, as Guy rejoined them, "I just met her son, John, in Akzeriuth. He was the boy we saw sink into the miasma after the land fell…"

"Oh…" said Guy, "So that's who John was."

Alex tilted her head at him questioningly.

"You've been…talking in your sleep lately," Guy explained, scratching the back of his head, "His name came up once or twice."

"Both of them were delightfully awkward moments," said Jade as he pushed his glasses up his nose, his smirk widening. Alex, Tear, and Guy glared at him. "My apologies. It doesn't take a genius to notice you've been disturbed by his death. Then again, that's hard for me to say, being a genius myself. However, I will ask that if you ever feel the need to talk to Miriam about this, please do so after we get her safely to Chesedonia." He didn't wait for Alex to respond before continuing. "At any rate, we have another long day ahead of us tomorrow, get some rest."

* * *

"_Where am I?..." Alex asked hearing her words echo around her._

_Alex looked around her and saw nothing but black. She reached out her hand and felt nothing around her. She closed her eyes and listened hard; she heard nothing. She tried to walk and realized she was floating. But where was she?_

_Alex opened her eyes again and looked around her, trying to find something, _anything, _when she heard it: a young girl. She was giggling._

"_Hello?" Alex called out, hearing her voice echo again. That was strange - the giggles didn't echo. "Who's there?"_

_The giggling grew louder. Alex was breathing heavily, she was getting nervous. The giggles were coming from every direction, growing louder, _closer_, every moment. Then, suddenly, the giggles stopped._

_Alex heaved a sigh of relief. But she was still no closer to figuring out where she was. She decided that there was obviously nothing in front of her, so she turned around and had to retreat five paces when she did, how she did that while floating, she'd never know._

_She finally knew who was giggling at least. It was a young girl, who didn't look much younger than Anise. She had long, light brown, yet slightly red hair. She wore a simple, light blue night gown. She had her eyes closed, and had a huge grin on her face. Her face was tilted upwards towards Alex. Alex didn't care if the girl was cute, she was freaking her out._

"_D-do you know where we are?" Alex managed to ask._

_Nothing. Not even a nod. The girl remained in the exact same position, grin unfaltering, eyes still closed._

"_Do you know how to get out of here?" Alex tried, getting impatient._

_Still no answer, but the girl did finally open her eyes. They were bigger than Alex thought they'd be. They were hazel, and they gave the impression that the girl could read a person's mind, or look into their soul if she wanted to. The girl stared at Alex, still grinning. It was making her feel uncomfortable._

_Suddenly the girl turned and started walking away._

"_W-wait!" Alex called after her. The girl did not stop; instead she disappeared, leaving a small glowing ball of white light a few feet from where Alex stood._

_Alex guessed the girl wanted her to touch this light, and hoped this was her freaky way of telling Alex there was a way out. Alex slowly moved toward the ball of light, cautiously extending her hand. The second before her fingers made contact with the ball, she heard the girl giggle again. Alex wanted to change her mind and take her hand away from the ball at that second, but it was too late. The light seemed to suck her into it like a vacuum, and suddenly she was falling. Alex closed her eyes, not knowing where she was, waiting for some form of impact. It never came._

_Alex opened her eyes slightly to see muddy ground inches from her face; and it wasn't getting any closer. She opened her eyes wider and noticed her body was levitating above the ground. As if it were waiting for her to notice this, her body stopped levitating and she fell, face first, into the mud. The girl started giggling again, but stopped quickly._

"_Gross…" said Alex as she pushed herself into a sitting position so she could figure out where she was. She wiped some of the mud off her face and gasped when she realized where the light had taken her._

_She was in the Qliphoth. But not just any area in the Qliphoth, she was on the remains of Akzeriuth, where she had seen John die._

"_But this area sank into the mantle…"_

_She was close to the edge of the area, close to where the sea of mud and miasma began, and so noticed instantly when a small muddy hand reached out of the poisonous purple sea and grabbed hold of the closest land, a few feet from where Alex sat. She got up and retreated as fast as she could, and reached for her sword, only it wasn't there. She settled for walking away backwards as the small hand became a small person, pulling itself out of the miasma. Alex's heartbeat quickened and tears sprang to her eyes as she realized who it was. She suddenly found herself unable to move._

"_You said you would help me, Alex," said John, in an eerily distorted voice. His body was covered in mud, but what Alex noticed most was his eyes; they were empty._

_John started moving closer to her. Alex wanted to move away, but she couldn't, instead she fell to her knees crying and covering her eyes._

"_You said you would save Daddy, but you didn't. Why did you lie to me?"_

"_I'm sorry!" Alex cried between sobs._

"_You're weak," John stated, his voice sounding more and more distorted and angry with every word, "You couldn't even save a little boy. You couldn't stop your equally pathetic replica brother from destroying Akzeriuth. All you had to do was stop him from wandering off. It's not like you could heal the sick miners anyway. You weren't needed there; you should have been babysitting your brother."_

_It was then that Alex realized that it wasn't John opinions she was hearing, though they may have been; these were her thoughts, her opinions. Many times during the night she had relived that horrible moment when John died, and each time she did, she thought these things. Of course, she didn't actually think Luke was pathetic now, but she did at the time._

_She uncovered her eyes, expecting to see John in front of her, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. Instead the girl from before was kneeling next to her, sadness in her big hazel eyes. She reached out and wiped one of the tears off of Alex's face, and in that moment they were transported together to a different location._

_The girl had brought them back to the world of black. Neither of them made a move, they just started at each other. The girl was no longer grinning at Alex._

_Behind the girl, Alex saw a familiar scene. A small shining circle had appeared, inside was the young girl of about four she had seen so often in her dreams, being tucked in by her father. Alex noticed that in all her dreams, she had never actually seen the man's face, but from behind he looked an awful lot like her own father. Was the four-year-old girl her?_

_The hazel-eyed girl finally spoke to Alex, tears rolling silently down her cheeks, but Alex never heard the words: the girl and the scene behind her started to fade and she heard someone calling her name through all the black._

* * *

"Alex… Alex, wake up."

"What?..." Alex opened her eyes to see stars in the sky above her, she sat up quickly remembering her dream. Her heart was pounding in her chest, she was drenched in cold sweat, and she was crying.

"Oh, good." came Jade's voice, sounding uncharacteristically worried, "You were talking in your sleep. Apologizing. It sounded like you were having a nightmare. You started crying, so I decided I should wake you up. It didn't sound like you were particularly enjoying your slumber."

"Sorry, Colonel," Alex mumbled as she moved into a sitting position and quickly surveyed the area. She was definitely back in the real world, and Tear and Guy were still asleep. "Did I wake you up?"

"No," Jade answered, "I've been awake the whole time; I suppose you could say I've been on guard."

"I thought a few of the troops were supposed to do that," Alex said, keeping her voice low so the others wouldn't wake up.

"Oh, they are," Jade shrugged, "I like to keep watch myself in conditions like these. I'm sure you've noticed that I'm not one to trust others so easily, not even my own soldiers."

Alex nodded, "Well, I don't think I'll be able to get back to sleep…"

"Then perhaps you could join me? Over these past couple nights I've been star gazing to pass the time. If you want to, you could tell me about that nightmare as well. I'll listen, I don't have anything better to do right now, you see."

Alex considered it, ignoring his sarcastic comment at the end and thinking maybe he'd be able to make some sense out of it. But when she thought more about it, she could only really remember bits and pieces of the dream. But what was the girl about to say to her before Jade woke her up?

"I would tell you," said Alex, standing up and walking over to Jade to sit next to him, bringing a blanket with her so she wouldn't get cold, "But I don't really remember most of what happened, and what I do remember I don't really know how to explain."

"Well it sounded horrible," Jade stated in a perfectly pleasant voice.

"Yeah… Listen, could you do me a favour and not tell the others about this? Especially Guy?"

"Oh?"

"I don't want him to worry about me, and I know he would. Like you guys said the other night, we have more important things to worry about right now."

"I see. Then I promise not to tell them. I must say, you are more mature than you let on."

"Thank you, again? Tear and Guy are a lot more mature than I am. I freak out about the smallest things sometimes. You were _there_ when Guy and I were fighting, right?"

"I won't argue with that. I am simply saying that most girls would be thrilled about having the boy they like worry about them." Alex rolled her eyes. "I initially thought you wouldn't be this mature when you and Natalia first joined - or I should say ambushed us in Baticul. I must say I am pleasantly surprised at the maturity you've shown over the last few days."

"Well," Alex yawned, she was still tired, but didn't want to go back to sleep. She was honestly surprised at his words; she thought she had shown the exact opposite when she had argued with the others about the Score the other night. She wondered if Jade was trying to make her feel better after her nightmare for some reason. It didn't really strike her as the sort of thing Jade would do, but she knew he was an amazing liar. "I _am_ officially of age today… Or yesterday. What time is it anyway?"

Jade didn't comment on her yawn, "Oh, I'd say around two or three in the morning."

"Okay, so I was officially of age yesterday then."

"Well, a happy belated birthday to you then. Although, these aren't exactly the best conditions for such an occasion, are they?"

"I don't really mind…" Neither of them spoke for a few moments. A thought finally struck her, she had never actually seen Jade sleeping before, and when she thought more about it, sleeping was for some reason added to the list of things Alex didn't think Jade did—or needed to do.

Alex entertained herself in thinking about what Jade did during the night when everyone else was asleep, or in his spare time in general. He probably read an exceptionally large and complicated book that would normally take a regular genius three weeks to read in a few hours, and when he was done he probably just sat on his bed in silence, waiting. The thought kind of freaked her out a little bit, so she decided to start up a new conversation to distract her from it.

"So… Star gazing, huh?"

Alex reluctantly allowed herself to drift back into sleep as Jade began to tell her about the different constellations he could find.

* * *

"Uh… Did we miss something?"

Alex woke with a start, it was morning and everyone was getting ready to start moving again. She noticed Tear and Guy were staring at her with confused and bewildered expressions. It took her a few seconds to figure out why. She had fallen asleep on Jade's shoulder. She _really_ needed to stop using people as pillows. Who was next? Ion? Anise would probably be pissed about that.

She moved away from Jade and stood up faster than she should have, which resulted in a head rush. Alex stumbled on her feet, blinking wildly, before gaining balance. "Sorry, Jade."

She noticed Jade looked as amused as he always was. Guy was staring at her, looking more confused than she had ever seen him, and Tear was looking at her as if _she_ was the one who was sick.

"Seriously, did we miss something?" Guy asked again.

"Uh…" Alex replied, trying to think of something to say without mentioning her dream.

"Not really," Jade replied for her, standing up, "Alex woke up in the middle of the night, I assumed her mind, like mine, was on alert, so she couldn't sleep. I was already awake, so we started talking, and I suppose I bored her to sleep when I started telling her about constellations."

Both Tear and Guy nodded, seeming to believe every word. Alex smiled; she'd have to thank Jade later for keeping his promise. But she did wonder if he only did it so he'd have another opportunity to show off his amazing lying skills. She became even more worried when she thought about the possibility of having to repay him later on.

After all the citizens had finally been woken up and they had everything packed, the troops got into their places around the group, and they set off.

It was as if the Kimlascan troops had all heard about the evacuation. They seemed to all come in packs, after a third group of them arrived Alex, Tear, Jade, and Guy were forced to enter the fray themselves.

"Maybe I should tell them who I am?" Alex suggested through gasps of breath, after they and the Malkuth troops had managed to get rid of the Kimlascan soldiers.

"I doubt they'd believe you," said Jade, "You don't have any identification, and they would find it hard to believe that someone from the Kimlascan Royal Family would be aiding Malkuth citizens. If anything, they'd kill you for attempting to impersonate a member of the Royal Family."

"Okay, point taken."

There were maybe three or for more attacks from the Kimlascans during the day, slowing them down considerably. When nightfall came, they had agreed that there needed to be more people on guard during the night, just in case. They decided they'd take it in shifts.

"I'll take the first shift," said Jade, Alex already knew he'd be staying up all night anyway. Where he managed to get the energy to walk all day and stay awake all night was a mystery. Maybe for some reason he could use photosynthesis? Jade _would _be the type of person to attempt an experiment on crossing people and plants… "We are more than halfway to Chesedonia. If things go well from here on, we should be there tomorrow. I expect there won't be many soldiers after we cross the bridge."

"How far away is the bridge?" Alex asked.

"Not far," Jade replied, "I'd say maybe an hour or two of walking. From there it's maybe a few hours to Chesedonia."

Suddenly they heard footsteps coming their way from the opposite direction of where the citizens were. Upon hearing the noise, they all drew their weapons, a few of the troops in the area followed suit.

"Put your weapons away," a female voice said, "I didn't come here to fight you."

Nobody did as she asked; instead they readied themselves for battle as she approached them, and stopped just close enough for them to see what she looked like in the moonlight.

She looked like she was in her late twenties. She was a few inches taller than Alex, but still shorter than Guy and Jade. She looked like she could be an Oracle Knight; she had the clothes for it. She wore a long, black coat with blue trim, and the top half of the coat was covered by a silver breast guard, also blue rimmed, that had the same design as most of the Oracle Knights' armour. Her arms were bare except for long black gloves. Underneath her coat she wore a simple black skirt that ended just above her knees, and long black boots held together by lace, the bottoms of the boots were also blue. Fastened to a silver belt around her middle was a long sword. Its sheath had a blue rose in the middle, and had a pattern of white rose vines that branched off of it. A long blue ribbon was wrapped around and tied to the hilt of the sword. A similar ribbon tied her long, light mahogany coloured hair in a ponytail that fell to her waist. Her bangs went straight across her forehead, and hair to the length of her chin fell around the sides of her face. The bangs covered her eyebrows, but not her eyes, which were hazel.

Guy looked shocked when he saw her, giving Alex the impression that they had met before.

"Really," she said with a smirk when she noticed they weren't going to put away their weapons, "Do you honestly think I'd be stupid enough to try and attack you? I know when I'm out numbered. And I like to think I'm smart enough not to pick a fight with Jade the Necromancer. I bet you've already come pretty close to breaking that fon slot seal Largo used on you?" she asked him.

Jade didn't answer her; instead he responded with a question of his own, "Who are you?"

She smirked at him, "Finally something the Necromancer doesn't know," She folded her arms across her chest, "And after all I've heard about you from the others. They keep saying you're the biggest pain in the ass to deal with out of your whole group. I guess my expectations were a little high," she sighed, shrugging and closing her eyes, "I'm a little disappointed. You're a colonel aren't you, why haven't you tried to attack me yet? I'm clearly not trustworthy." she added, gesturing to everyone's weapons.

"The others?" Tear asked her, ignoring most of what she said, "Who are you?" she repeated Jade's question.

"One of your brother's goons," she finally answered, "Garcia the Evanescent. I'm a God-General."

"There are only six God-Generals," Tear argued, glaring at her.

"That you knew of. Yeah, 'evanescent'. As in 'no one really sees me for long enough before knowing a seventh God-General exists'," she answered, air quoting most of what she said.

"As in 'you kill them'?" Alex asked in a mock tone, air quoting as well.

"Only if I need to," Garcia shrugged, "Most of the time I just sneak around people if I don't have a reason to talk to or fight them. I don't like to kill people unnecessarily, unlike some of my fellow God-Generals."

"Which means you have a reason to speak to us?" Guy asked.

"Van sent a message." Garcia said, "For the Hod survivors of the group. He doesn't want to have to kill you; he wants you to join him. But, from your faces and weapons, I can tell that you won't want to." No one responded to her. Garcia sighed again, "Fine. Don't be surprised if the next time we meet, I will have to fight you. But I guess I'll leave you alone for now, I have no orders to prevent you from reaching Chesedonia."

Before anyone could stop her, she was gone. Alex knew what she meant by no one sees her for long.

"What do we do?" one of the Malkuth troops asked Jade.

"You won't be able to catch up to her," he replied darkly, "Still, be on your guard."

"I guess this means we have another God-General to worry about," Alex sighed, she thought Garcia looked familiar, but she knew she had never met her before. She had to be imagining things.

"Yes…" said Jade, "All of you get some rest. I want to get to Chesedonia tomorrow."

No one said another word as they got ready for bed. Garcia's appearance had made them all worry more about what Van was planning.

* * *

_**A/N: I wanted to keep the 'music terms for God-General's names' thing going, so I got Garcia from the musical term Grazia, meaning elegance and grace. I just though Garcia sounded cooler. ^-^; And there definitely WILL be more of her to come. And yes, I realize there is already a seventh God-General named Cantabile, and she will play a part in this fic later on.**_


	19. Natalia, the False Princess?

_Chapter 19: Natalia, the False Princess?_

"We finally made it," Anise and Luke gasped at the same time, having finally reached Chesedonia.

General Cecille did not have the authority to stop the war, and unfortunately she was the only one their group could find in Kaitzur. Cecille did, however, tell them where Count Almandine, the person who _could_ do such a thing was. He was in Chesedonia, telling the Order (Mohs) their justification for the war. Cecille had asked them to wait in the Naval Port, as it was too dangerous to cross the battle field. Natalia, furious that the war had started in the first place, had ignored the General's wishes and asked that they go to Chesedonia anyway. She wasn't about to let a small setback stop her from ending this war.

Anise had been reluctant at first, as she was concerned for Ion's safety, but she was forced to go along with it when Ion agreed that they should cross the battlefield. Luke had known better than to argue with Natalia from their years spent together, and besides, he was just as determined to end the war as she was.

It had taken a few days to cross the battlefield, and they had no problems with the Kimlascan troops, who had been informed by Cecille what they were doing when she herself had seen them. She had insisted that they take a few of her soldiers with them for protection, which had backfired when they ran into General Frings, who told them that he could not stop his soldiers from attacking them if they had Kimlascan soldiers with them. Cecille had reluctantly taken away her soldiers and they soon had no problem with either Malkuth or Kimlascan soldiers. The real problem came when they started running into Oracle Knights, who also apparently knew of their plans to stop the war, and in turn wanted them stopped. They had managed to shake them off though, and made it to Chesedonia in one piece.

Natalia took a moment to be proud of their accomplishment; not just anybody could cross a battlefield and make it to their destination in one piece. She turned around to look at her companions. Mieu had collapsed onto the sandy ground in exhaustion, and Anise was lying down on a grown Tokunaga, also tired. Ion looked paler than he usually did, but did not collapse, and Luke was leaning against a close building.

"We can rest all we want later," Natalia told them, "Right now we must find Count Almandine!"

Anise groaned loudly, "But I'm _tired._ Can't we talk to him later?"

Natalia glared at her; this was much more important than sleep!

"Now, Anise," Ion said calmly, "Natalia is right. We can't let this war continue any longer."

"Thank you, Fon Master," Natalia said, still glaring at Anise as she reluctantly got up and shrunk Tokunaga.

Luke picked up Mieu, who was still lying down on the ground, and walked toward her. "Alright, let's go."

Natalia nodded and turned around, and saw something she didn't expect. Jade, Alex, Guy, and Tear were guiding citizens (most likely from Engeve) into Chesedonia.

Luke noticed them too. "Hey!" he called out, waving at them and accidentally dropping Mieu.

"_Mieuuuuu…"_

"Oops, sorry Mieu."

"What are you doing here?" Alex asked as she ran toward them.

"What happened with the truce?" Guy asked when he reached them as well.

"I was told that the commander-in-chief, Count Almandine, went to Chesedonia to meet Grand Maestro Mohs," Natalia explained.

"You crossed the battlefield?" Alex asked, shocked.

"That's incredibly dangerous," Jade added as he and Tear approached the rest of them after everyone from Engeve was safely inside the city.

"You all did the same thing!" Natalia argued.

Alex opened her mouth to argue back, but Ion spoke instead.

"The people who can stop this war are here in this city. Let's save the arguing and go talk to them," he reasoned calmly.

Nobody argued with him, and they all started looking through the city to find Count Almandine. Alex told them that the others had run into a new God-General by the name of Garcia. From the way she described the woman's demeanour, she sounded perfectly unpleasant to Natalia.

It didn't take long to find Almandine; he and Mohs had been speaking in front of the city's bar, surrounded by a group of soldiers from Kimlasca, Malkuth, and the Order. The soldiers from Kimlasca and Malkuth were creating a border down the middle of the city, where Malkuth ended and Kimlasca began. The two of them were being led away by two Oracle Knights, on the opposite side of the border from where the group was. Natalia called out to get his attention.

"Count Almandine! What is the meaning of this?"

They all turned around at her words. The Kimlascan and Malkuth soldiers parted so she could cross the border and she stepped through, glaring daggers at Mohs and Almandine.

"Princess Natalia?" asked Almandine, shocked at her appearance.

"_Of course," _thought Natalia, _"They still think I'm dead. I should have known Father wouldn't trust Emperor Peony's letter."_

"I presume you received a message from Emperor Peony the Ninth stating that the news of my death was an error!"

"His Majesty believed that message to be a Malkuth scheme…" said Almandine, looking uncomfortable.

"Indeed," said Natalia, having no trouble believing this, "I should have returned to the castle sooner." She took a few more steps toward him, "But you have now witnessed that there is no justification for this war. Stop the fighting at once."

Luke stepped forward to address him, "Count Almandine, it's me, Luke."

Almandine looked even more shocked at Luke's appearance. "You're…alive?"

Luke ignored him, "I'm the one who caused the destruction at Akzeriuth. The blame should be placed on me alone…"

"If this war is one born of misunderstanding, then it must be corrected at once!" said Natalia.

"The battlefield on the Rugnica Plains could fall—and be destroyed just like Akzeriuth!"

"Now, cease this conflict and open the border at once!"

The soldiers began to do as she was told and Almandine made no argument. Mohs, however, stepped toward her.

"Wait," he told the soldiers, with an evil smirk on his face, "There is no need to obey the orders of a false princess."

Natalia was deeply insulted at his words. A false princess? There were no words to describe how ridiculous that was!

"How dare you!" Natalia replied, disgust in her voice, "Even a Grand Maestro cannot speak of me in such a manner! To insult me is to insult the Kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear!"

"For some time," said Mohs with a smug look on his face, ignoring her outburst, "I have received the sorrowful confessions of a certain pious believer. It appears the daughter he fathered with an attendant to the Queen was substituted for Her Highness the Princess."

"That's a lie!" Luke yelled, anger written on his face.

"No it's not," Mohs said simply, "Look at her hair, her eyes." At these words the soldiers started examining her more closely, "From time immemorial, the royal family has had red hair and green eyes. But this woman's hair is gold. And the late Queen had hair as black as night. I've informed His Majesty about this matter as well."

"_Father…" _Natalia thought, _"He doesn't actually believe these lies, does he…?"_ But deep down Natalia had a feeling that they weren't lies. She had never thought about it before; why _was _her hair gold? Why wasn't it red, like Luke's and Alex's?

Mohs continued, snapping Natalia away from her thoughts. He was still looking at her, smirking. "If you go to Baticul, His Majesty will punish you for conspiring against the Kingdom!"

The soldier reformed their border, pushing Natalia back to the other side.

"That's impossible…" she eventually said, "That can't be true!"

Mohs turned her back on her. "Shouldn't you be returning to the battlefield?" he asked Almandine.

It took a moment for him to respond. "…Y-yes."

As Almandine left, Luke called after him. "Wait, the battle field is going to collapse!"

Mohs laughed cruelly, "So what?"

Any of the group members that weren't glaring at him before, were now. Even Ion seemed disgusted by his mere presence.

"As long as the war occurs, the Score will be fulfilled. Why are those people in Yulia City worrying about a little collapsing land?"

Alex and Luke were both shaking with anger.

"As long as the Score's fulfilled, it doesn't matter if thousands of people die?" Alex hissed venomously.

Tear looked disappointed, "Grand Maestro Mohs… That's horrible."

Mohs laughed again, "It's your brother who's doing the unthinkable." He turned to Ion, "Fon Master, do you still intend to demand a cessation of hostilities?"

"No," Ion replied, shocking everyone, "I wish to return to Daath for the moment."

"Ion?" asked Anise, "Are you serious? The commandant will make you open the Sephiroth seals so he can destroy the Trees!"

"It would be a problem if more of the Outer Lands collapsed, I won't allow Van or any of the God-Generals to take the Fon Master," said Mohs.

Anise didn't look convinced. "And if he comes by force?"

"Then you'll come back to rescue me, Anise." said Ion, causing everyone to look confusedly at him.

"Ion…?" Anise asked.

"Cantor Anise Tatlin, I hereby relieve you of your duties as Fon Master Guardian."

Anise looked both shocked and scared, "Ion! Don't do this!"

Ion bent down to whisper something in Anise's ear. Natalia didn't hear what he said, nor did she really care. It was amazing she had caught the rest of the conversation with Mohs. Her mind was still on one thing: was she really not the princess?

"Please," Ion said to the others, "Take good care of Anise for me."

The soldiers separated and allowed him through the border, and Ion left with Mohs without another word.

"What does Ion think he's doing?" Luke asked when they were gone.

"Leaving Anise here means he intends to come back." said Jade, "Right now, more importantly…"

Everyone turned to Natalia, worried looks on their faces.

"If you're worried about me, I'm fine. We should go to Baticul," There was no way her father—His Majesty, would attack her like Mohs said. She wanted to prove him wrong. "The only one who can stop the Kimlascan army now is Fath… His Majesty, the King."

They all looked hesitant around her; it was Tear who finally spoke. "…We'll need to find a way to cross the border."

"The border runs through this city," said Jade, "There must be a place where we can slip through."

Natalia began to walk away from them, ignoring the conversation completely. They all watched her, and she barely registered Jade whisper something to Luke.

…

There were plenty of things going through Anise's head. Natalia wasn't really the princess, Mohs really didn't care if the Outer Lands fell, they had no way to cross the border in the middle of town now that Natalia had no influence, and Luke and Alex would probably be disowned or something just for traveling with a false princess, so they couldn't get the soldiers to step aside either… But most importantly: Did Ion really just fire Anise? Why would he think going back to Daath would be helpful?

The last words Ion said to her really had her mind going.

"_Stay with Luke at all times, protect him. And report everything you hear to me."_

Those words and Jade saying that Ion leaving Anise with the rest of the group meant that he intended to rejoin them later ignited a new fire in the young girl. She was going to make Ion proud of her and save the Outer Lands, or die trying. She would be lying, however, if she said that Ion leaving didn't hurt. And she was worried about Natalia too, so already there was a damper in her enthusiasm to save the Outer Lands.

"The border runs through this city," said Jade, snapping Anise out of her thoughts, "There must be a place where we can slip through."

"_That's right," _thought Anise,_ "Natalia wants to go to Baticul."_

Natalia nodded at Jade before turning and walking away. She didn't even appear to be looking for a way through the border, maybe she was scared to go and see the king? She was probably scared of him rejecting her, so it was understandable. Why would he reject her though? He raised her for her entire life.

"Luke," Jade said quietly as Natalia walked away, "Keep an eye on Natalia, we don't need her doing anything rash."

"R-right. Should we start looking for a way through the border, then?"

"Yes," Jade replied, still watching Natalia, who had by now stopped in her tracks, "We need to ask Astor to take in the residents from Engeve."

Anise quickly scanned the area around the border, looking for a possible way to slip through; the others did the same. Why did Astor's mansion have to be on the other side of the border?

"Hey!" Alex suddenly said, pointing toward the bar beside where the soldiers blocked their way. Anise immediately knew what she was getting at, how had she not noticed that place had a door on either side of the border?

"I get it!" Anise shouted happily, before Alex could explain why she was pointing at the bar, "We can get to the other side of the border through the bar! Yay!" She ran as fast as she could to the bar, giggling like a five-year-old, and went inside, not even waiting for the others to catch up. She thought that if she acted as happy as ever, it might rub off on the others. She hoped it might even cheer Natalia up a little.

When she closed the door behind her, she was faced with a rather annoying sight. She had wished she could go her entire life without seeing these three people again. They had met before in this same town, when the pink-haired bimbo in the middle of the three tried to steal a still long-haired Luke's wallet. That was before she had even met Alex and Natalia, so those two wouldn't know these people yet.

Anise groaned loudly when she saw the three circus freaks in front of her, she just knew the Dark Wings were going to make it difficult for them to get across the border.


	20. Deserts and Ruins Again

**_Disclaimer: I'll own the rights to Tales of the Abyss when Jade stops being sarcastic and badass, and Ion starts looking more like a man._**

* * *

_Chapter 20: Deserts and Ruins Again_

Alex and the others followed Anise to the bar, some of them smiling at her childish behavior Alex was too busy worrying about recent events to even pay attention to the others' comments about Anise. She was still worried about Garcia's appearance and why she looked so familiar. And now she was worried about Natalia, who was walking slowly behind the rest of the group with a depressed look on her face. Alex felt bad for her. She wouldn't know what to do with herself if she found out she had been living a lie for her entire life.

When Alex opened the door and entered the small bar, she saw Anise glaring at the three strangest people she had ever seen. The woman in the middle had pink hair, and most of her clothing was pink as well, not that she was wearing a lot. The taller of the two males was dressed as a pirate, and had a rather creepy grin on his face. The third person, and the shortest out of all of them, whose beard and mustache covered most of his face, brandished a cane, and wore an odd hat with playing cards on it.

From the groans and sighs around her, along with Anise glaring at them, Alex got the impression that they had met before.

"What are you doing here?" Luke groaned.

"Umm, who are they?" Alex asked.

"Well, little lady," the taller male replied. Alex scowled, she didn't really like being addressed as 'little lady' by anyone, let alone by someone dressed as a pirate for no reason. "My name's York, this is Urushi, and the lovely lady in the middle here is Noir." Alex didn't know about 'lovely' when she took a good look at the pink-haired woman, she came off more as...slutty. Not that she was one to judge, but slutty seemed like the most appropriate word at the moment, especially when she noticed Luke and Guy glancing at her mostly exposed chest every now and then. "But, we're more commonly known as the Dark Wings." He turned to Luke, "I'm afraid if you're going to get to the other side of the border," he nodded toward a man blocking the exit on the other side of the bar, "You're going to have to buy the password."

"I don't believe you guys!" Anise said, still glaring at them, "First you kidnap Ion, and now you're conning people here? What's wrong with you?"

_'They're the ones that kidnapped Ion back in Baticul,'_ Alex thought, _'That explains why Anise is glaring at them.'_

Noir laughed at Anise's words, "What can I say? We love money!"

"So do I, but still-"

"Anise…" Guy interrupted with a deadpan expression while Alex sighed, "Okay, Dark Wings, just how much are you asking?" Guy was glaring at them now, at least he wasn't staring at Noir's chest anymore.

"There's seven of you," Urushi replied, "So…"

"Don't forget me!" Mieu shouted happily, hopping up and down on the spot, everyone quickly shot the furball a glare, causing him to stop his happy hopping altogether.

"Right," said Urushi, looking a bit happier, "There's eight of you, so that'll be eight thousand Gald."

"I don't believe this," Tear sighed while Luke grabbed Mieu and began to shake him.

"Your big mouth just cost us another thousand Gald!"

"Are you gonna pay or not?" asked York. Alex found herself joining Anise in glaring at them.

"That's way too expensive," she said.

"Yeah," Guy agreed, "I don't see any reason to go along with this little scam."

"We're still in Malkuth, aren't we?" Anise asked, "Colonel, just arrest them!"

Jade seemed to think about it for a moment, seeming to be caught between letting the Dark Wings do this for amusement, or saving money. Finally, he agreed with Anise, "You heard her. Though if you let us through, I suppose I could let you go this time."

They thought about it for a moment before answering.

"Alright, if you let us go, I suppose there isn't much harm in helping you guys out. You can go on ahead."

They didn't waste any time with goodbyes or thank yous, they simply left the bar, thankful that that waste of time was over. They went straight to Astor's mansion, not stopping for anything.

When they arrived, the man named Astor was very happy to see them.

"Luke! Princess Natalia! There were all sorts of rumors saying you'd all been killed! I'm so happy to see you again!"

Jade wasted no time in getting to the point.

"We have a favor to ask you."

"Relax. Fon Master Ion has already asked us to take in the people of Engeve."

"We're in your debt, thank you."

"Don't mention it," Astor laughed, "However, there is something I would like to ask you about. Ion said that you evacuated Engeve because the land in that area was falling?"

"That is correct."

"Well, it seems we have a bit of a problem of that sort in the Zao Desert."

"Really?" Luke asked, looking upset.

"Yes, earthquakes have split the Zao Desert and Ispanian Peninsula, and this area has begun to sink."

"So Chesedonia's falling now too…" Alex sighed. That effectively dashed any hope of them getting some rest in town before heading out again. They were going to have to check that out.

"Is there anything we can do to stop it?" Astor asked, "Citizens of both nations live here, there's nowhere for them to run."

"Is there a passage ring in this area that Van shut down?" Guy asked Jade.

"That would be the Zao Ruins, where Ion was taken," Natalia replied in a somewhat dead voice, speaking for the first time since the encounter with Mohs.

"Colonel," said Anise, "Can you think of anything we can do?"

Jade thought for a moment, "Well, I do have one idea. Even if we can't revive the Sephiroth Tree, the flow of the Tree should still be rising. If we use that power, I wonder if we can lower the land slowly, like an elevator."

"Then let's go give it a try," Luke said, determination on his face again, though he still looked exhausted, "As it stands, we're just waiting for the land to fall!"

"I'm afraid I don't quite follow," said Astor, "But I gather there might be a way to save Chesedonia? If that's the case, then I don't need to know all the details, just please do what you can."

"Alright," said Tear, "But there is one thing you and the residents should know about…" Astor listened quietly while Tear told him about the Qliphoth.

"I see… Please leave informing the residents to me, and please save Chesedonia."

"Right, let's get going to the Zao Ruins."

Everyone turned to leave, except for Natalia, who appeared to have not been paying attention.

Everyone stopped at the door and turned to look at her, worried looks on their faces.

"…Natalia?" Luke asked.

"Oh, right. We're leaving now?"

Luke nodded as Natalia passed him and headed out the door. After a moment everyone followed her.

They had no problem leaving the desert city, as the soldiers had been informed by Astor of the situation. Alex had expected more resistance by them after what Mohs had said about Natalia not being the real princess, but thankfully Astor's influence was bigger than Mohs'.

Their departure wasn't completely problem-free. As they were a few miles out of the city and heading in the direction of the ruins, Luke collapsed into the sand, clutching his head. It took no time for the others to realize he was having another one of his headaches - or Asch was contacting him.

They formed a circle around Luke, watching as he had a silent conversation with Asch. When he stood up again, they didn't need to ask what it was about.

"Asch said he wants to meet us in the Oasis," Luke said quickly. It was understandable to not want to speak much, with sand blowing in every direction. It was hard enough to keep the sand out of their eyes, they didn't want to add the trouble of keeping it out of their mouths, so they had all been silent so far anyway.

They nodded and set off for the Oasis. Jade quickly said something about restocking on their supplies while they were there, and Alex wondered why they hadn't done that in Chesedonia. They had a bazaar there; it would have been easier, despite the fact that everything was pretty high in price thanks to the war.

Everyone stayed quiet as they left continued on their trek, and they remained that way for a long while. It was hot and everyone was tired, sweaty, and too miserable in general to talk.

After a few hours of practically bathing in sand, they finally reached the Oasis, and as they approached Asch beside the large pool of water, Alex found herself trying to resist the urge to jump in and cool down. Not to mention get the sand off of her.

She forced herself to take her eyes off of the sparkling water as Asch spoke, "It's about time you got here!"

"What do you want?" Luke asked him, crossing his arms against his chest.

Asch cut right to the chase, "Has anything strange happened? Like your mind being mixed with someone else's?"

Luke looked confused, "What are you talking about? Nothing weird happens other than when you contact me."

Asch looked at him closely for a moment, "…I see."

"Has something happened?" Natalia asked worriedly, she seemed to have forgotten completely about what Mohs said after hearing that Asch wanted to talk to them, "Are you ill?"

"…No," Asch avoided her gaze when he responded.

"Is that all you had to say?" Guy asked him, leaning against a nearby palm tree with his arms crossed. Alex could tell just by his tone of voice and the small glare he was sending Asch's way that he still held some animosity toward him. The very thought was a little awkward for Alex, and by the look on Luke's face, it was for him too. Natalia though, didn't seem to notice, as she was still looking at Asch.

Asch hesitated, "…Engeve has begun to fall. The battlefield will likely fall soon after."

Everyone's eyes widened slightly and stood up a little straighter.

"At this rate, everyone on the battlefield will die!" Natalia said, her hands clasped together against her chest.

"You will too if you stay here, you idiot!" Asch snapped at her.

"I'm well aware of that," Natalia replied calmly while lowering her arms, not looking insulted in the least at being called an idiot. Was she immune to Asch's bad manners? "But we intend to use the Sephiroth's stream to safely lower Chesedonia."

Asch turned his head to Jade, looking slightly confused, "You can do that?"

"Who knows?" Jade shrugged, his glasses gleaming in the sunlight.

"I can never tell what's going on in that head of yours."

"Neither can we…" Alex sighed, "Try being around him twenty-four seven."

"…If what Natalia said is true," Asch said, ignoring Alex, "Then can't you lower the battlefield as well?"

"We may not make it to Shurrey Hill in time," Tear said hesitantly.

"You will," Asch replied simply, when everyone looked at him confusedly, he continued, "The Sephiroth are all connected inside the planet. Naturally, the passage rings are connected as well. Once the rings are active, you can remotely control one ring from another."

"So if we activate the Zao Ruins passage ring, we'll be able to control the Shurrey Hill ring as well?" Jade asked.

"That's what Van said."

Without saying anything else, Asch walked past them, elbowing Luke out of the way as he went.

"Where are you going?" Natalia asked him as Luke rubbed the arm Asch had elbowed and glowered at him.

Asch stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around to face her, "To find out what Van's up to. We need to find out what area he plans to drop next." He paused, "Well, if you fail, I'll just die here along with everyone else."

Alex rolled her eyes, "Always good to know how much confidence you have in us."

Apparently everyone just felt like ignoring her today, as Natalia ignored her comment and walked toward Asch, "I promise we'll lower it safely!" she told him, holding up her pinky, "I swear to it!"

"What, you want to pinky swear?" Asch scoffed, still not facing her, "Don't be absurd."

"Asch…" Natalia said, looking hurt. Okay, so maybe she wasn't so immune to Asch's insults after all. Still though, Asch had a point. Making a pinky swear wasn't going to ensure that they would be successful.

After all, Alex had made a pinky swear with John saying that she would help him and his father, and look how well that turned out.

"There are no guarantees in this world," Asch told Natalia, "That's why, before, I…" he trailed off, clearly not wanting to continue his thoughts. "I'm going now. You all should too."

They watched his retreating figure, and then quickly restocked on water and food before heading to the ruins, knowing they were in for quite the long and exhausting walk.

They made it to just outside the ruins before it was getting too dark to continue, and they decided to set up camp outside the ruins, since it would probably be too hot to get any rest inside. They quickly ate the dinner Anise prepared for them before going to bed, Luke volunteering to take the first shift.

Alex wasn't looking forward to the next day. She hated those ruins. They were unbearably hot, sandy, and dusty, and were worse than the Daath Cathedral when it came to the obscene amount of walking necessary to get through them. She'd hoped she'd never have to return to them after the disaster of the first time the group went through.

* * *

"Ohhh..." Anise whined, "We've been walking forever! Why aren't we there yet?"

Once they woke up in the morning, they wasted no time in gathering their things and entering the ruins. They had been extra careful this time, since they didn't want to get separated like they had when they entered the ruins months ago to save Ion.

They managed to make it safely through the ruins, only a few monsters got in their way. But as they had improved over the months since the last time they were there, these monsters posed no threat. The only thing that slowed them down was a large earthquake when they got to the chamber the God-Generals had been holding Ion in on their last visit.

They had chosen not to talk at all again, with all the floating sand and dust in the air. Anise had only started talking again because there was nothing floating around in the air inside the Sephiroth.

So far they had probably spent about six hours of their day doing nothing but walking in the heat of the ruins, and the heat was no better in the Sephiroth. Alex found herself seriously wishing they'd at least had the Albiore to fly them across the desert, then at least she wouldn't be ranting in her head about how miserable she was…then again, she probably would anyway.

"Well," Guy sighed, he looked slightly annoyed with all the walking as well, "It seems like we've been walking more because we're actually going deeper into the ruins than we did before..."

Anise pouted, "I can't stand this! Colonel, could you carry me on the way out of this place?"

Her puppy dog eyes had no effect on him, "I'm afraid not. But I believe I heard Guy say he would be willing to carry you."

Alex raised her eyebrow at Jade's back, as she was walking behind the three of them beside Tear.

"Really?" Anise asked, a wide grin appearing on her face, "Guy, you would really - wait, you can't, can you?"

Guy sighed, "Well, as much as I'd like to..."

Anise pouted again, "Fine, I guess there's not much you can do about your 'special condition'."

Alex coughed to hide her laugh. Guy shot her a look before replying to Anise.

"'Special condition' huh?" he asked with a small smile, "Well, maybe I just need a special lady to condition me."

The others stopped and looked at him as if to ask, 'Really?' and then slowly shifted their gazes to Alex, their expressions staying the same.

"There is no way I am being connected to that line," Alex deadpanned.

"...It _was_ kind of lame, Guy," Luke agreed with a shrug.

Guy let out a nervous laugh in response.

"Well then," Jade said as he adjusted his glasses, "That certainly perked us up a bit. Shall we continue on our way?"

"But we've been walking for hours, Colonel!" Anise whined. I'm exhausted, not to mention hungry. Can't we stop here for tonight?"

Jade sighed, "You do realize we're in a hurry?" No one responded, so he shrugged. "Oh well, I suppose there's no harm in resting for a few hours. However, if the earthquakes get more frequent, we leave immediately." The others nodded tiredly.

"So we're setting up camp here?" Tear asked.

Jade nodded, and Luke said, "I'm definitely alright with that. I'm exhausted too."

"So who's cooking tonight?" Anise asked as she sat down, "I'm too tired."

"I have no problems with being the one to prepare dinner," Natalia volunteered.

The others all looked at one another, silently pleading each other to volunteer to cook instead of Natalia. Even Jade looked desperately like he didn't want her to cook, even if she most likely volunteered to keep her mind off of the possibility of not being the princess.

Guy finally sighed, "Actually, Natalia, if it's all right, I'd like to cook."

"Oh..." she replied, crestfallen, "Are you sure?"

"All in favor of Guy cooking?" Alex asked as she raised her hand. Without any hesitation, the others followed suit.

"Well! Is my cooking really that bad?"

"Your cooking skills should be the least of your worries right now, Natalia," Anise replied.

Natalia didn't respond.

"No offense, Natalia," Luke said, "But we need our energy if we're going to keep up all this walking tomorrow morning, so we kind of need...um..."

"Edible food?" Jade suggested, earning a glare from Natalia.

"Like you're one to talk anyway," Alex yawned as Guy started pulling ingredients and cooking supplies out of one of the item bags, "Your cooking's almost as..." she glanced at Natalia, not wanting to insult her when she was as upset as she was, "Uh…Interesting..."

Natalia was insulted anyway, and Alex felt her cold, penetrating glare as she sat down. She should have kept her mouth shut. She had a good thing going, not talking. Why'd she have to go and break it?

"Whatever," Luke replied, waving his hand, "Your cooking's hardly any better than mine."

"Still edible," she muttered, looking away from her brother.

They waited patiently for Guy to make dinner, plain pasta, and ate thanked him before eating.

"Your cooking has certainly improved, Guy," Jade said suddenly as they were finishing up.

After they had all finished eating, they set about cleaning up.

"Yeah," Guy replied to Jade, "Kind of wound up that way."

"Did you ever work in the kitchens while you were a servant in the Fabre household?" Jade asked him.

Guy shrugged, "Yeah actually. Sometimes I would miss meals so I had to learn the basics, but occasionally I would have to help out on special occasions. Mostly on Luke or Alex's birthdays or something."

"Really?" Alex asked, by the look on Luke's face, he was just as surprised to hear this as she was, "I didn't know that."

Guy nodded in response.

"No way!" Luke said, "Really? But those meals were always so good!"

Guy raised an eyebrow at him, "Yeah, well my cooking's not horrible, Luke."

"It is actually really good…" Alex mumbled.

"What do you mean, 'actually'?" Guy asked. Though he was clearly trying to antagonize her, it wasn't working because of the small smile on his face.

"Guy's almost like a house husband!" Anise randomly announced with a giggle, causing everyone to turn their gazes in her direction.

"A…house husband? What might that be?" Natalia asked, tilting her head in curiosity. Alex could see where Anise was going with this. And she had a feeling she wasn't going to like it.

"A superman that takes care of cooking, cleaning, and all the housework for his beloved wife!" Anise replied with a wide grin, "There are only a chosen few in the whole world!"

Natalia gasped, "So Guy is one of the chosen?"

It was amazing just how gullible Natalia could be sometimes.

Jade laughed, "Impressive indeed. It sure would be handy to have one in your home."

Alex barely managed to refrain from making a smart comment. She couldn't do that. She would be walking into Anise's trap.

"Guy would probably do it, too…" she heard Tear sigh.

"…Are you saying he's a pushover?" Natalia asked her. Looking back, Alex couldn't recall one moment where Guy had been able to say no when he'd been asked to something. By anyone, not just the people he was serving.

"Please, no…" Guy muttered.

"So, are you a house husband, Guy?" Luke asked.

Alex seriously had to resist the urge to facepalm, and settled for giving him a deadpan stare, "Luke…"

"No!" Guy replied quickly, looking at Luke as if he had just grown a second head, "I'm not even married!"

As what could only be described as an evil grin slowly spread across Anise's face, Alex realised that it didn't matter how many smart comments Alex stopped herself from saying. She prepared herself for what Anise was going to say.

"I'll marry you anytime, Count Gailardia!" she said happily. That wasn't what Alex expected she would say, but she wasn't complaining as long as she wasn't getting dragged into it. "So promise me you'll become a good house husband!"

Alex turned her head to see Guy's horrified face, and realised that the comment she was thinking of was far too good to pass up on.

"Yeah, Guy," she said with a shrug, "Maybe she's that special lady you were talking about earlier."

"I wouldn't mind at all!" Anise giggled.

Guy smiled nervously, "Er, thanks, but I think I'll pass…"

"Boo…Figures."

Alex laughed.

"Well, I think that's enough excitement for one night," Jade said, "We're only resting for a few hours before we move on to the passage ring."

* * *

"Wow! This place is huge!"

And it was. Alex could hardly believe she was underground when she looked down below her. The passage ring, which was already a huge structure, was miles below them. It appeared to be the only thing there too, everywhere else just appeared to be a bottomless pit.

Alex found herself wishing that the bridge-like structure they were standing on had a railing as she looked down. It would at least make her feel somewhat safe. While Alex wasn't afraid of heights, bottomless pits were another story.

"I can't believe we've been living on top of these things…" Luke said.

"But it's true," Tear replied, "People can't see anything that's not right in front of them."

"But curiosity can at times reveal things that were better off unknown," Jade added.

"Can we…go?" Alex asked, she was starting to feel nauseas looking down below her, and she couldn't look away, "Now, please?"

They all looked at her curiously for a moment before Guy nodded.

"Yeah, the Outer Lands aren't going to wait for us to fall."

It was a long walk, but after a couple hours they finally reached the passage ring. As they made their way along the platform leading to the passage ring, Alex found that her eyes were glued to the see-through floor of the platform, and was very aware of the feeling that she was floating. That only added to her nausea. She wondered if any of the others were having the same problems.

"You're not afraid of heights," Guy said suddenly, causing Alex to finally tear her eyes away from the floor.

"I know…" Alex replied as Tear, Jade, and Luke went to control the passage ring, "It's more the thought that I don't even know if I would land on something if I fell that freaks me out."

Guy nodded sagely, "Yeah, I guess that is a little disturbing…"

They watched silently as Jade told Luke what commands to carve with his hyperresonance. Once he was finished, memory particles started flowing upwards like they had in the Shurrey Hill, and she felt a lurch as the lands started to lower. She closed her eyes, but found that that only made her feel even more nauseous. When she opened her eyes again, she saw that Tear was extremely pale. Was she going through the same thing Alex was, or was she actually sick? She recalled that she was pale and tired after activating the Shurrey Hill ring too.

"We'll stay here while we're waiting for the lands to lower," Jade told everyone.

They waited about an hour until they felt a small thud. They took that to mean that the lands had finished lowering. Alex was happy with this piece of information; it meant they could get out of there.

"It finished the descent," Jade said, "And the passage ring still seems normal."

Luke let out a relieved sigh, "It's almost boring that things went to smoothly."

"Shut up," Alex told him simply.

"Yeah, I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you," Anise added.

"…Yeah, you're probably right."

Alex took a moment to be shocked about the fact that he hadn't even stood up for himself. He really was changing.

Guy seemed to be just as surprised as she was, "Wow, you didn't even act insulted."

"I'm scared I might get overconfident and let something happen that I can't undo." Luke shrugged.

Tear looked at him like she wanted to say something, she still looked really pale, and almost like she was in pain.

"Tear, you don't have to look at me like that. I'm not going to have any more outbursts."

"No…" she replied quietly, "That's not what it is…"

"She's probably just tired," Anise shrugged, "We spent more than a day on this."

Then, out of nowhere, Tear collapsed. Guy, who was standing beside her, instantly backed away a couple feet, terror on his face, and Luke ran to her side, pulling her head onto his lap.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," she replied weakly, "I'm sorry… I can't even take care of my own health, what a poor soldier…"

"Worry about yourself before your reputation as a soldier," Natalia told her, her arms crossed, "Are you sure you're alright?"

Tear slowly got to her feet, Luke standing with her, "Thanks, I'm fine."

"Then let's go outside," Jade said, "We should check to see if we've arrived in the Qliphoth."

They all started to leave, Luke with his arm around Tear's soldier. Alex smirked at how smooth it was. She turned to Guy to make a joke about it, but stopped when she noticed the troubled look on his face. She was going to say something, but Jade beat her to it.

"When you think you're witnessing a problem, it's best to look for the cause."

"Huh?" Guy asked, turning his head to look at him as they walked, "Oh… Yeah."

"Come on," Alex told him, "It's not like you could do anything with your phobia."

Guy didn't respond, and Alex got the feeling that she had said something wrong.

* * *

The journey from the ruins back to Chesedonia felt much longer than it did the way there, and it left everyone miserable and in desperate need of a shower. It had taken two days, they'd spent the night once in the Sephiroth, and once outside the Oasis after stocking up on supplies. But they were ecstatic when they finally arrived.

Noelle was waiting for them in the city, and after taking a quick break to shower, clean their clothes, and rest, Jade announced that he'd like to fly around the Qliphoth for a while - there was something he wanted to investigate. The announcement made everyone a bit nervous, as something bad happened every time he said something similar, but they went along with it.

After a half an hour of flying, Jade explained that it looked like the Sephiroth were going out of control. It wouldn't be long before the passage rings broke, the trees vanished, and the rest of the Outer Lands fell.

The news didn't go over well for any of them, especially Luke. They all began to panic and try to think of ways to stop it from happening.

Anise suggested going to Daath to get Ion so they could open the Sephiroth, and Jade explained that he'd like Ion to read the Closed Score - he wanted to find out where the Score went wrong.

So there they were, in Daath, about to go see Ion.

Anise looked the most nervous out of all of them, and they all seemed to understand why. She was nervous about going to see Ion after he had dismissed her in Chesedonia.

When they approached the cathedral, and were surprised to find a mob of angry citizens standing in front of it.

"You expect us to believe that most of Malkuth has disappeared?" a man was shouting.

"I know it sounds unlikely," explained a pastor, "But it's true! We can't allow any boats to leave the harbor, it's too dangerous!"

The people didn't seem happy about this; they continued to yell a little more before they finally gave up and left, still looking angry. The pastor heaved a sigh, obviously happy they were leaving him alone, and went back inside the cathedral.

The group tried not to let the peoples' behaviour bother them, and went inside.

"How do we get into Ion's room, anyway?" Luke asked.

"We don't know the incantation to the fonic glyph," Tear stated.

"Looks like a job for Fon Master Guardian, Anise Tatlin!" Anise announced dramatically.

"You mean former."

"Boo…" Anise pouted at Luke's comment, "Fine, former. But I still know the incantation to the fonic glyph."

They followed Anise to the next room and, after she activated the glyph, into Ion's chambers.

He wasn't there.

"Well that was a great waste of time," Alex said, "Where is he?"

Before Anise could answer they heard voices coming in the direction of Ion's room. Alex recognized the voices, they were Dist and Mohs.

"This isn't good," said Jade, "We should hide."

Anise led them into Ion's bedroom next door to his chambers, and they began to listen in on the conversation Mohs and Dist were having, Anise and Alex pressing their ears against the door.

Alex didn't understand a lot of what they were saying, mostly because she couldn't hear them properly, but she did hear Dist mention something about replica data.

"It sounds like Dist's using both Mohs and Van to further his own ends," she told the others when the two left.

"That sounds believable," Jade said, "It is Dist."

"Let's go find Ion," Anise suggested.

"Yeah," Guy agreed, "But we'll have to be careful not to run into Mohs or Dist."

They found Ion in the library on the first floor. He was happy to see all of them, and was very eager to help. They had decided that they would go and find all of the Sephiroths later on, and asked him to read the Closed Score for them. Ion immediately agreed and led them all to the chapel.

When they arrived, he wasted no time in reading it. Alex didn't catch a lot of it, but she understood the parts about Akzeriuth, and assumed that Luke was the Light of the Sacred Flame.

"But it says ND 2002," Guy said when Ion was finished, "Luke was only born seven years ago."

"So then Asch has to be the real Light of the Sacred Flame," Alex said, "There's no mention of a replica, and Asch is still alive. The Score said he was supposed to die."

"Luke's existence is missing from the Score," Tear finished.

Luke was looking more and more depressed by the second, and Alex had an idea of what he was thinking about. Before she could tell him he was wrong for thinking it was entirely his fault, Anise continued the conversation.

"This Score is all messed up. Luke's existence put everything off track."

Thanks Anise. That would help Luke out a lot.

"…Are we going to Baticul?" Luke asked, looking like he desperately wanted to change the subject, "The Outer Lands seem safe for now, we need to put a stop to this war, right?"

"Yes," Ion agreed, "I'll see you out."

Everyone was quiet as they went to leave Daath, the atmosphere around them was again awkward, only this time it was because of Luke and not Natalia.

When they got to Daath's exit, they were blocked by many Oracle Knights. Mohs or Dist must have seen them.

They knew there wasn't anything they could do, it was too risky to start a fight in the middle of the street, and there were still civilians around. Jade still attempted to aim a spell at the soldiers blocking the exit, until Dist's annoying laugh came from behind them.

"Don't even try it, Jade," he sneered, "You don't want to know what'll happen to this girl if you do."

When they all turned around they saw something completely unexpected. Not only was Dist out of his floating chair for what was probably the first time since he built it, an unconscious Noelle was sitting in it.

Jade stopped his spell casting and the soldiers around them instantly moved in. Alex felt someone grab her roughly from behind, and she noticed that Guy looked very upset at the action. In a matter of seconds the rest of the group was grabbed as well.

"You look so good like that, Jade," Dist laughed.

"I am honored by your compliment." Jade replied, completely unphased by what was going on. Alex wondered how he was always able to keep his cool in these situations.

"No one's complimenting you!" Dist yelled back, clenching his fists before pointing to the exit of the city and commanding the Oracle Knights, "Take them away!"

* * *

**_A/N: And I apologize for the last bit of the chapter being a little rushed. It's just that you guys already know what happened if you've played the game or watched the anime or whatever, and I'm not really liking just typing out what they say in the game. Oh well, there'll be more changes coming up soon._**


	21. Captured

_Chapter 21: Captured_

Tear was irritated, and she realized that she only seemed to get irritated around the redhead currently moping around in the cabin of the ferry the group was on. The Oracle Knights had finally captured them, and they were taking them to Baticul. Both Natalia and Luke seemed to be taking it worse than any of the others.  
Natalia's anxiety was understandable, everyone knew she was nervous about whether her father would believe Mohs or not.

As for Luke, Tear had a feeling she knew what he was depressed about, and she didn't even want to hear it. Her worst fears were realized when Luke addressed the group.

"Guys?" he asked, while fidgeting around slightly, "I've been thinking-"

"Oh, great," said Anise, rolling her eyes, "That never leads to anything good."

"I've been thinking," Luke repeated, ignoring Anise's comment, "The Score's messed up because I was born. So maybe to fix the Score…"

Tear knew it was coming, but she still felt her stomach drop as the words came out of his mouth. She couldn't stand listening to him talk about that. She was about to reprimand him for even thinking about it, but Alex beat her to the chase.

"Luke," she said slowly, moving closer to him, "I want you to listen very closely to what I am about to say to you - and I'm only saying it because you _are_ my brother, whether you think so are not, and because I still love you either way."

Luke turned his attention toward her, mingled confusion and sadness in his eyes. Those feelings were quickly replaced by shock after Alex raised her hand high over her head and hit him hard over the back of his head.

Tear couldn't have said it better herself.

"Ow!" Luke exclaimed, wincing and clutching the back of his head, "What the hell?"

Alex took no time in replying, using both hands to hit him wherever she could between every word, "You - are - a - complete - _idiot_ - Luke fon Fabre!"

"My, my, his full name?" Jade said, looking amused as always, "That's never a good thing, Luke."

Natalia nodded at his words, looking too nervous and sick to speak. She had her eyes glued to the two redheads - Tear suspected she was trying to distract herself.  
Luke simply glowered at Jade in response; he was busy trying to push his sister, who was still hitting every part of his body she could reach, away from him.

"Ow! Would you stop it?" Luke yelled, still trying to fight her away, "Guy, could you help me out here?"

"Sorry, Luke, but I'm with her on this one," said Guy, who was watching from the opposite side of the room, a little amused at Alex's actions, "Besides, phobia, remember?"

"Tear?" Luke asked uncertainly, quickly looking from Guy to her.

Tear sighed before walking over to them - why did she have to be the only mature one in the group? She was the youngest, after Anise.

She walked over to the two siblings and attempted to calm Alex down, telling her she had done enough damage. However, she assured her that if he started to talk the way he was again, she could do whatever she wanted to him and Tear wouldn't stop her. Alex nodded and moved away from Luke, who let out a sigh of relief, before Tear turned back to Luke, glaring at him.

"Before you get the wrong idea, Luke," she said, "I agree with her as well."

"What?" Luke asked, Tear was surprised to see just how shocked he looked at her words, "But you're the one who said I didn't exist in the Score. You said I messed everything up."

"Did you honestly think I wanted you to kill yourself?" Tear replied, appalled that he would think such a thing, "You really are an idiot!"

"H-hey!"

"All I meant was that you aren't bound by the Score," Tear said, she was beginning to lose her cool, "You have the ability to lead your own life - you can create your own future! But if you want to sit around and mope all the time, that's fine. I won't watch you anymore."

He looked surprised by her outburst, but she didn't get a good look at his face before turning her back on him.

"Tear… I'm sorry."

Tear didn't care at the moment.

* * *

Upon arriving in Baticul they were taken to the castle, where they were all separated. Luke, Natalia, and Alex were all taken somewhere else, while the rest of them were sent to the prison cell on the bottom level. Tear had a very bad feeling about the situation

"They'll likely be executed," Jade said, looking grim.

"But none of them did anything wrong!" Anise said, "And Alex wasn't even accused of anything!"

Guy wasn't saying anything, and he looked oddly pale.

"But Grand Maestro Mohs has King Ingobert's ear," Tear said, now really worried - she regretted yelling at Luke, she didn't want her shouting at him to be her last memory of him.

"Hey!" came a sudden voice. Tear knew who the owner of the voice was immediately; she never thought she'd be truly happy to see him.

"You haven't given up yet, have you?" Asch asked, running into the room, looking at them from the other side of the cell, "If you have, you're more pathetic than I thought."

"I don't recall saying anything about giving up," Jade shrugged.

"Do you know where the key to this cell is?" Asch asked, ignoring him.

"I saw the guard put it on that desk over there," Anise told him, pointing at the desk on the far side of the room.

Tear wondered why the guard would leave anyway; he left only a few moments ago when a soldier from upstairs said he was needed. She was even more baffled that he just left the key.

Asch went to retrieve it, "I'm ashamed that the castle has such idiots for guards," he said as he unlocked the cell door, "He didn't even ask questions about being summoned while he was supposed to be on duty. And then he just left the key! Pathetic!"

"Who cares?" Anise asked, "We're getting out of here because the guy's an idiot, we should be thankful!"

"Indeed," Jade agreed.

"How did you know he was summoned?" Guy asked as they all hurried out of the cell.

"Who do you think summoned him?" Asch replied.

"Wait a minute…" Anise said, hands on her hips, "Why are you helping us?"

"…We don't have time for this!" Asch replied as he began to make for the stairs, "Go and find the others, they're in Natalia's room. Use a Fonic Hymn to get past the guards."

"Where are you going?" Tear asked.

"I need to talk to somebody about something," he said before dashing up the stairs and out of sight.

"We should hurry too," Jade said, "We don't have much time."

…

Guy was worried, to say the least.

Luke, Natalia, and Alex had been taken from the rest of the group. He knew why Luke and Natalia were taken, and he was worried that they may be executed for treason, but they gave no reason for taking Alex, which was a reason for worrying by itself. He had no idea what they were going to do with her, he hoped they hadn't come up with a reason to execute her too. He hoped Mohs didn't have a reason to think of reason for them to kill her. Unless… No, there was no way Mohs could have figured it out.

Nobody spoke as Tear sang her Fonic Hymn, causing the guards in their way to collapse. She sang the Hymn over and over, rendering any guards that tried to attack them unconscious; unfortunately, it caused Tear to grow more tired every time she sang as well.

Guy could feel his heart pounding hard in his chest as they ran through the many hallways in the building. He kept thinking the worst. What if they didn't make it in time?

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thoughts, there was no way he was letting them execute the others. They had to be alive.

Before Guy knew it, they were opening the doors to Natalia's bedroom, unconscious guards lining the halls behind them. Luke and Natalia were standing before a soldier and one of the king's representatives, who had also fallen because of Tear's Hymn. The poison they had been holding was now spilled all over the floor. They had just made it.

Guy quickly scanned the room a couple more times, and felt his stomach drop when he realized Alex wasn't with them.

"You came for us!" Luke said, Guy barely registered his words, "Tear, I thought you'd given up on me."

"I wasn't going to let you die, but I still think you're an idiot."

Guy was focusing so hard on trying to breathe properly that he hardly registered it when Anise finally asked the question he was asking over and over again in his head.

"Where's Alex?" she asked, looking around the room.

"What do you mean?" Natalia asked panic rising in her voice.

"We thought she was with you!" Luke said.

"So you don't have any idea where she was taken?" Anise asked.

Luke shook his head; the relief on his face was replaced by worry.

"Should we search the castle for her?" Tear asked.

"It's too large," Jade replied, "And we need to hurry, we won't find her before the guards come back."

"So you're saying we should just leave her here?" both Guy and Luke yelled. The others looked angry at him for suggesting it. Even Mieu looked appalled.

Jade turned to Guy to respond, his red eyes gleaming, "She hasn't been accused of anything that we know of. As far as we know, she's a Fabre. I doubt they will hurt her."

"And what if Mohs thinks of a reason to hurt her?" Guy snapped, shaking with anger, he'd never actually had a problem with Jade until now, "He's already got King Ingobert to poison his own daughter," he felt a twinge of guilt when he heard Natalia choke out a sob, but he kept going, "It wouldn't be hard for him to convince him that Alex is guilty of treason too."

"Why are you so convinced that Mohs could so easily find an excuse to convict her of such a thing?" Jade asked with a smirk, his eyes still gleaming. "You aren't hiding anything, are you?"

"Damn," Guy thought, "He knows. Was he just pretending he wanted to leave her here to get a reaction out of me?"

Guy gave him the most intense glare he could muster, to which Jade responded with a bigger smirk as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

The simple action had never annoyed Guy this much.

The rest of the group was quiet as they watched their exchange; the air was awkward for a moment before Natalia broke the silence.

"Jade," she said, "I really don't think it's alright to leave her here," she hesitated before she continued, "And… I want to know if it's true. I want to see Fath- His Majesty."

Jade turned his gaze toward her, "You understand the circumstances."

"Yes."

* * *

"Alex!" Anise shouted when they entered the audience hall.

Guy felt extremely relieved when he saw her standing in front of the king, looking as if she were trying to persuade him of something. He started to relax; she was safe.  
Alex turned toward them when she heard Anise call her name, a smile on her face when she saw them.

"You're all safe!" she said, "Thank Yulia."

Alex tried to take a step toward them, but Largo, who Guy had just noticed, stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

"You aren't going anywhere."

"Your Majesty," Guy heard Mohs say in his annoying drawl, "That little display explains perfectly why Miss Alexandra should be kept in the manor under close watch. Her mind has obviously been corrupted by the imposters of you daughter and nephew. If she continues to travel with them, there's simply no telling what she could do to protect them. Of course, it's no fault of hers that they've been using her for their own personal gain."

Guy felt sick to his stomach, how could Mohs make up a lie that horrible?

"My mind hasn't been corrupted!" Alex shouted, glaring daggers at Mohs, "And they aren't using me! Uncle! Are you really believing him?"  
Ingobert didn't answer her question, he was staring at Natalia, a sad look on his face.

"What happened to the guards?" Mohs asked, turning toward the group, "You should be dead by now."

"Father!" Natalia said, ignoring Mohs' comment, "Am I really not your daughter?"

"I don't want to believe it," he replied, looking away from her, "But..."

"The wet-nurse has testified," Mohs said for him, a smug look on his face, "Meryl, daughter of Sylvia, attendant of the late Queen." Mohs turned to an elderly woman who Guy just noticed, "That is who she is, correct?"

The woman hesitated, "Yes, the real Natalia was stillborn. But the Queen fell into despair. So I took my daughter's child, who was born a few days earlier, to her..."

"Is that really true, Nanny?" Natalia asked, her eyes wide.

"But the evidence leaves no room for argument."

"Father!" Natalia shouted, taken aback by Ingobert's response.

"How disgraceful, Meryl," Mohs said, turning on Natalia, "You learned that you were not the true Princess and aided in the destruction of Akzeriuth out of hatred for being ripped from your real parents."

Natalia was both shocked and appalled at the accusation, "No! No, I would never do such a thing!"

"Uncle!" Luke shouted, "Would you really believe such a story?"

"I don't want to, but...we found an infant's remains where she said..."

"E-even if that's true, you raised Natalia as your own daughter!" Luke protested, "It makes no sense to condemn her for a crime she didn't commit!"

"This isn't only about her!" Mohs said, glaring at him, "You, too, will die here - the mastermind of the destruction of Akzeriuth."

"With your deaths," Ingobert said slowly, "We will again declare war on Malkuth."

"Dist, Largo," Mohs said, "Kill them."

Dist wasted no time in floating toward them in his chair, but Largo seemed to be hesitant as two guards went to take his place in front of Alex.

"What are you waiting for, Largo?" Dist asked, impatience in his voice, "Do you not care if strangers do the job for you?"

Largo growled, "So this is what you brought me here to do?"

Before anybody could do anything else, Asch rushed into the audience hall, shocking everyone.

"Lu-Asch?" Natalia asked.

Dist seemed pleased by his appearance, "Asch, perfect timing! Capture them."

Asch didn't answer him; instead he moved in front of the group facing the other God-Generals.

"Didn't I just save you all?" he asked, frustrated, "Hurry up and go!"

Luke and Dist seemed the most shocked out of everyone.

"Asch? You were the one that helped us?"

"You would really betray the Commandant?"

Asch ignored Luke's question and focused on Dist, "Like you're one to talk. You've been going against him for replica data."

The comments had started an argument between the three God-Generals; they were no longer paying attention to the task at hand.

"Now's our chance," Jade said as they continued to argue, "Let's go."

"What about Alex?" Guy asked, looking over at her.

"I'll be fine," she mouthed back at him from behind the two guards, "You need to get out of here."

The others seemed to notice this, for they slowly turned away and started to leave, Guy reluctantly followed them. He really didn't want to leave her behind. He had a bad feeling.

"You fools!" he heard Mohs shout behind him, "They're getting away!"

…

Alex watched them leave with a sad expression on her face; she hoped they would make it out of Baticul safely.

Mohs was furious that they had escaped the castle.

"Make sure every soldier in this city is out looking for them!" he barked at Dist and Largo, "I don't want them leaving this city."

The two nodded their heads and tried to get to the door, but Asch blocked their way, his sword drawn.

Alex felt two hands roughly grab her wrists and begin to drag her past Asch and Largo, who were now clashing blades.

"Take her to the manor!" she heard Mohs call after them, "And make sure she stays guarded!"

Alex thought it would be safer not to protest.

* * *

It had been an hour since Alex was taken back to her room in the manor, and night had fallen. She hadn't heard anything about whether or not the others had escaped. There were guards set to be outside her room at all times, nobody, not even the maids or Ramdas, was allowed in, and she wasn't allowed out at any time. They had taken her sword away as well, eliminating any chance of her escaping in one piece.

Not knowing if her friends were alive had made her a nervous wreck. She had spent the entire hour pacing around her room, trying not to think the worst. It was so quiet in her room that it was eerie, and yet she felt too sick to speak and break the silence.

She was so used to the silence, and she was so nervous, that she jumped about a foot in the air when her door suddenly opened. She turned to see who the person was, hoping it might be Asch coming to get her out of the manor since he seemed to be playing the hero, but her stomach dropped when she saw Dist the Reaper enter her room. The moonlight shining through her window hit his glasses, creating an immensely creepy effect where only one of his eyes could be seen while the other was hidden by gleam. That, along with the huge grin he had on his face, caused a shiver to run down Alex's spine. Possibly the most surprising thing about this unsuspected visit though, was the lack of Dist's floating chair.

"What do you want, Reaper?" Alex demanded, glaring at him.

Dist's grin faltered, "It's Rose," Dist replied, advancing on her. Alex found herself backing up, not wanting to be anywhere near him, "How is one as elegant as I a reaper and not a rose?" he demanded. When she didn't respond, he continued, "Well, to answer your question, I'm here for replica data."

"W-what would you need that for?" Alex asked, trying and failing to keep her voice calm. Dist was asking for her replica data, that couldn't be good.

"I suppose I can tell you, considering what the outcome will be."

He didn't stop advancing on her, and she didn't stop backing away from him. She eventually hit a wall though, and her eyes darted about her room looking for a way to escape.

"I'll try and explain this as simply as possible, so you'll understand."

Dist was standing in front of the window, so that was out.

"You see, Mohs has grown tired of you and your friends getting in the way of his plans."

There were guards stationed outside her door, she would be killed if she left her room.

"So he and I concocted a brilliant plan to rid him of all of you, though it was really entirely my idea."

There weren't any ways for her to escape. Dist had her trapped. She turned her attention to him, already piecing together just what this plan was.

"You want to make a replica of me," she said slowly, glaring daggers at him, "So that replica can kill my friends?"

His grin widened, if that was possible, "You catch on quickly. You missed one rather important detail, however—"

"You kill me after the replica's born."

"Ah! You're more clever than I thought. Shame we have to kill you."

Alex now had nowhere to go; Dist literally had her backed into a corner. Dammit, if only she had her sword!

She watched in fear as he drew a needle from his pocket, already filled with a green liquid that Alex wanted nothing to do with. Dist noticed her staring at the needle and his creepy grin widened.

"Oh don't worry about this," he said, advancing on her, extending the arm he held the needle in, "This will only make the replication process less painful for you. You're lucky that I, the elegant Dist the Rose, am so kind."

"Like hell I am!" Alex spat, "You're not going anywhere near me with that thing!"

"I beg to differ," Dist drawled, his grin fading into a smirk, "I do hope Isabell won't take this too badly…" he sighed as he held her against the wall with one arm, preparing to inject the needle into her with the other. She wasn't about to let him get away with it without a fight though, "Yulia only knows what that woman is capable of when she's angry—Stop struggling, girl! I'm trying to make this easier for you!"

Isabell? Why did that name sound so familiar? And why would this person care about whether or not Dist replicated her?

Unfortunately, she stopped struggling as her mind wandered to these thoughts, which was probably Dist's plan. She was filled with dread and terror as she felt the pain of the needle being injected into her arm. Dist had his creepy grin back, and Alex glared at him, not giving him the satisfaction by showing any signs that the needle had hurt. She could already feel her awareness slipping away.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

* * *

**_A/N: Dist the Reaper? Actually being a little terrifying? What is this madness? And since I think I made it a little unclear, the needle isn't for extracting replica data, so he doesn't actually have it. It was just a drug to stop her from struggling against him getting the data, though he says it was to make the experience less painful for 'her', when really it would be making it less painful for him. xD_**

**_Oh, and I do not own Tales of the Abyss, blah blah blah. Just Alex and Garcia are mine._**


	22. The Truth

_Chapter 22: The Truth_

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Alex wanted to respond, she wanted nothing more than to hurt Dist, but she couldn't. Numbness was spreading through her limbs, and no matter how much Alex wanted to punch Dist in the face in that moment, she couldn't move her arms. She couldn't even move her lips speak. Her legs trembled beneath her and she slowly slid down the wall to the floor. Her sight and hearing remained intact, and she almost wished they would fade along with her sense of touch, maybe then she wouldn't be so terrified.

She could do nothing but watch in horror as Dist leaned towards her.

"Now that you're more cooperative, we can get this over with quickly. This won't hurt a bit." He smirked at his cleverness.

Just as his hand disappeared in his pocket, something completely unexpected happened. The hilt of someone's sword smashed into the side of Dist's head, sending him into the ground with his glasses flying off and breaking when they hit the ground.

Alex couldn't turn her head to see who her savior was, but their voice clued her in. She never thought she'd ever be happy to hear that voice.

"What the hell are you doing, Reaper?" Garcia demanded, stepping toward a disoriented Dist and pulling him up by his hair, which was slowly being dyed red with his blood. "I don't remember Van condoning this."

"It's _Rose_. And I'm here on Mohs' orders," Dist replied, "The Commandant is unaware of this. Blood is hard to wash out of white hair, you know!"

Alex could only see what was transpiring from the corner of her eye, so she was left guessing at the expressions of their faces. There were no words to describe how grateful she was for Garcia's good timing, and she seemed to be against Alex being replicated as well, so that was a major plus.

She heard the crunching of broken glass and assumed that Garcia had stepped on Dist's glasses, what Dist said next confirmed this.

"Hey! I need those to see!"

"You don't say?" Garcia drawled. Alex heard more crunching; from the little that she could see, she could tell that Garcia was now holding Dist up by the front of his jacket. "I don't know or care why you get pleasure out of forcing replica data from people, but you know that this girl is off limits. Van intends for his sister and that other Hod survivor to join him. The chances of that happening would vanish if they found out one of his God-Generals replicated and killed one of their friends in an attempt to have the rest of their group slaughtered by that replica."

Alex heard the sound of Garcia punching Dist and then the thud of him being thrown to the floor, probably unconscious. She watched as Garcia approached her and vaguely felt her pull her to her feet.

"It'll probably be difficult getting you out of here when you're like this… Damn, I didn't think Dist would be stupid enough to try something like that. Luckily I got here in time to stop him."

She began to move, and Alex tried to move her legs to help her a little. No such luck.

As they reached the door, Garcia groaned, "This isn't going to work…I'll have to carry you on my back."

Alex couldn't protest if she wanted to. She did nothing as Garcia hoisted Alex onto her back, and broke into a run across the courtyard, heading for the exit. Alex noticed vaguely that there were several guards lying unconscious on the ground, and she wondered if it was Garcia's work.

The movement made her feel nauseous, and she was suddenly glad that she didn't have anything in her system at that moment – it would be poor repayment for Garcia if she threw up all over her.

Luckily for them, since Garcia couldn't fight and carry Alex at the same time, the White Knights were holding off all the Kimlascan soldiers throughout the city. It allowed Garcia to move quickly, and they reached the port in no time. Alex wondered briefly if the others got out alright. Her mind was getting pretty fuzzy from whatever Dist had injected in her, and her vision was going blurry as well. She could still hear properly for the time being though.

She heard two familiar voices once Garcia stopped moving.

"It's about time you got here. The ferry's about to leave," said Asch's irritated voice.

"We ran into a little trouble," Garcia replied, "Thanks for worrying though; it's always nice to know you care."

"What happened to Alex?" Noelle asked. So Noelle was alright, that was good.

"Dist?" Asch asked.

Garcia sighed, "Yeah. Some kind of drug, he probably came up with it himself. We should get her on the boat and into a cabin to rest before you ask any more questions."

It took tremendous effort, but Alex forced herself to speak, "D-did…the others…?" Her voice was weak and quiet, but the others seemed to hear her.

"They got out fine," Asch replied. "They're going through Inista Marsh to get to Belkend."

"Is that where we're going?" Noelle asked, "Belkend?"

"No, we're going to Daath," Asch replied in a voice that said if any of them asked him another question he'd force them to shut up, "We're getting the Albiore."

"Right."

Alex felt movement again as Garcia and the others boarded the boat. A few minutes later she was being placed on a bed. She tried to manage a 'thank-you', but it came out as garbled nonsense.

"Don't try to talk," Asch said, not showing any kindness in his voice, "Just rest. I'll go see if there's a healer on board or something. It'd be a pain if she held us up. Maybe a First Aid would help; you two stay with her just in case."

She heard the door close behind him. She didn't remember when she closed her eyes.

"Do you think it's a good idea for her to sleep?" she heard Noelle ask, "What if something happens and she doesn't wake up?"

"I don't know…" Garcia replied, "It is a possibility, Dist did intend to kill her." Alex vaguely felt someone shaking her shoulder, "Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you won't be falling asleep anytime soon. Open your eyes."

Alex managed a groan as she forced her eyes open.

"Why did Dist do this to her anyway?"

"I'm not sure what his plans were…" Garcia lied. Alex wasn't quite sure why she would lie, maybe she thought Alex should be the one to tell all her friends what Dist's plan was. "Van didn't give him any orders to do anything, so I put a stop to it."

"Oh, okay then."

She heard the door open again, and by the sounds of it, Asch had managed to find a healer.

"So what happened to her?" a gruff-sounding man asked.

"She was drugged," Asch replied, "Is there anything you can do?"

"I can't get rid of the effects… But I may be able to lessen them a little and get rid of some of the pain. Hold on."

Alex thought it was a little strange that the man didn't wonder at all about how she was drugged, but she didn't complain as she felt the welcomed sensation of First Aid spread through her body, restoring some of the feeling in her limbs and lessening a headache she didn't realize she had, which in turn cleared her head a little. She still couldn't move her limbs very much, but she had more awareness now.

"Thank you," she managed, happy she could at least speak with less effort now.

"You're welcome," the man replied, "It should be okay for her to get some sleep now, but you may want to wake her every now and then."

He left without another word.

"How long until Daath?" Noelle asked.

"We'll probably get there in the morning. I think she should be able to sleep, but just to be sure someone should stay here with her in case things start to look bad. I'm going for a walk."

Alex closed her eyes again as the door closed behind Asch.

"I'm worried about the others," she blurted out, her words slurring together slightly. She thought it might be better to have her brain focussed on something, and having a conversation was the only thing she could really manage at that moment.

"I am too," Noelle replied, "But I'm sure they'll be fine. I stand by on the Albiore all the time worrying for your guys' safety and you always come back alive. They'll make it to Belkend alive, no doubt about it."

"Yeah," Garcia agreed, "I've seen you guys in battle, you're all pretty good. I can't see them facing anything more than a few monsters on the way to Belkend. Besides, with someone as skilled as that Necromancer, I doubt any harm will come to them."

Alex thought about this for a moment, "When've you seen us in battle?"

"Hm?"

"I've only seen you once 'nd we didn't fight then."

"I've had assignments where I've had to watch you guys without being seen. 'Evanescent', remember? I was there in the Zao Ruins when you battled with Sync and Largo."

"That's creepy," Alex deadpanned, closing her eyes again. She was starting to drift off.

"Yeah, well, blame Van, not me. It's not my fault I'm sneaky, and he's the one that uses that to his advantage."

"Well, you'd make a great stalker." Alex was amazed anyone could understand that last sentence with how slurred the words were.

"I consider that to be a good thing, as it's more or less my job."

They heard the ferry's horn sound and the boat began to move.

Alex heaved a sigh and felt the familiar sensation of her body getting heavy as she began to fall asleep. She didn't try to fight it as sleep took her.

* * *

It took the whole night to get to Daath Bay, but when they finally did, Alex was feeling slightly better. She still couldn't walk on her own, but she was able to move her legs enough that all she needed was someone to hold her up and walk with her from the ferry to the Albiore, which was thankfully in the port. She also still had some trouble with slurring her words that she just gave up completely on talking unless it was important. She hoped that the effects would be mostly gone by the time they met the others in Belkend, she didn't want the others to see her like this.

She was glad the walk from the ferry to the Albiore was so short, and she was relieved when she was sitting down again.

"Let's just hurry up and get to Belkend," Asch was saying, "The only reason I went to Baticul in the first place was to give something to Jade from the Fon Master. If I knew I was going to get dragged into all of this I would have refused."

Alex desperately wanted to mock him about how Natalia was probably the real reason he went, but he probably wouldn't have understood her if she did, she was easier to understand with short sentences.

She felt an overwhelming sense of happiness when Garcia mocked him for it instead. It would be seriously hard for Alex to think of her as an enemy after all she'd done for her, but after that she didn't think she would ever be able to draw her sword on the woman.

"Shut up!" he yelled at Garcia, causing her to smile broadly at his reaction, he was even blushing a little, "Did you hear me earlier? I said let's move it!"

Alex was looking forward to leaving as well, she wanted to know if the others were safe, and since the Albiore could actually fly they would get to Belkend in no time.  
There was just one problem.

"Oh no!" Noelle shouted from the pilot's seat. She was inspecting something, and she looked very upset.

"What's wrong?" Asch asked as he went quickly over to the pilot's seat.

"Someone's taken the flight stone!" Noelle replied, Alex felt her stomach drop at her words.

"It was probably Dist," Asch said, taking a closer look at the place where the flight stone would normally be as if he was looking for clues.

"Yep, it was definitely him," Garcia said as she picked up an envelope off the chair beside Noelle's, Alex noticed there was a rose drawn on it.

Garcia opened the envelope and began to read the letter inside in an over dramatic voice. She was very good at impersonating Dist.

_"To my enemies, The Jade Gang,_

_If you are reading this, then you have no doubt managed to slither out of my grasp once again. You may think you have gotten away with it, you may have even been celebrating until you began to read this letter (as I know you must all be shaking with the fear of what I could have done), but you should know that I have known that duplicitous snake you call Jade for many years, and as such I have prepared for your escape from Baticul._  
_I have taken the Albiore II's flight stone, and have no intention of telling you where it is at any time. _  
_You're all cursing my brilliance right now aren't you? You should have known better than to think you could make a fool out of a man as brilliant as I…"_

"… And then there's a lot of laughter and his signature," Garcia concluded, looking disgusted at the letter.

It almost surprised Alex how ridiculous the letter was after what had occurred with him in her room. She was terrified of him then, how did he go from that to…this?

Maybe she would have to ask the colonel later if he had a split personality disorder or something.

"Really?" Noelle asked, taking the letter from Garcia, "Oh wow, he did write down his laugh. It's so hard to make a fool of him when he does such a good job of it by himself… Did he really think he needed to write down the laugh?"

"It's Dist," Garcia shrugged, "You get used to his idiocy and learn not to question it."

"We can still make fun of him though?" Alex managed.

Garcia turned to her with a small smile on her face, "Oh, of course. I still do."

"… Enough!" Asch exclaimed before turning to Noelle, "Can we still use this thing for transportation?"

"Yes…" she replied, "But it can only travel over water like this, it can't fly."

"That's good enough for now," Asch told her, "Let's go, I don't want to spend any more time with you people than I have to."

"You're no fun," Alex slurred.

"You'll get used to that too," Garcia smirked.

…

Guy let out a sigh as the group made their way to the lab in Belkend. They had managed to make it out of Inista Marsh alive - but barely; the monster in there had done a good job in making it difficult for them.

Guy was worried about Alex; he had a bad feeling about leaving her alone in Baticul. He was worried about what Dist had done with Noelle too. The others were no doubt worried as well, but they were doing a better job of hiding it than Guy, who Jade had told several times on their way through Inista Marsh to focus. Only Natalia seemed to be less focused than him.

They had initially thought it would be difficult to get into the lab, as there were guards outside, but the task was made extremely easy when they mistook Luke for Asch. The group had at first intended to look for Spinoza to get details about Van's plans, but the guards had escorted them right to Van's office instead, where he and Legretta were.

Surprisingly, Van had let them stay, and what was even more surprising, he had even told them exactly what he was planning.

"Why are you destroying the Sephiroth Trees and causing the Outer Lands to fall?" Tear demanded of her brother.

"This wasn't written in Yulia's Score!" Luke added.

"Yulia's Score..." Van repeated, smirking slightly, "Don't make me laugh! If people continue to rely on that garbage, mankind will go extinct."

Natalia narrowed her eyes at him, "But you're trying to end the world yourself, by making the Outer Lands fall!"

"This is the only way to free the world from Yulia's Score!" Van reasoned.

Jade shrugged, "I suppose the Score won't matter if everyone's dead."

Van shook his head, "All that will die is the ghost of Yulia known as the Score, and its support, Lorelei."

"Lorelei?" Anise asked, "The aggregate sentience of the Seventh Fonon? But its existence hasn't been proven."

"It exists. It's the source of man's power to read the Score, and the force driving this world into madness. If Lorelei is not destroyed, this world will continue to be shackled by the Score."

"So many people will die if the Outer Lands fall," Luke argued, "The Score will be the least of anyone's worries!"

"Humans are mere puppets, living only as the Score dictates. Replicas will suffice."

"You're going to recreate the entire world? Everything?" Guy asked incredulously, "That's ridiculous!"

"Then what about this, Gailardia Galan Gardios?" Van asked him, Guy was slightly shocked at the use of his real name, ""Mankind knew - through the Score - of Hod's destruction, and still did nothing!"

"But..."

Van shook his head once more, "My feelings have not changed. If you will aid me, I will gladly welcome you. My promise still stands."

Guy thought about his plan, and how crazy it was. How could he ever have been in on something like that? Besides, over the time he spent with the others, he had grown to care about them, there was no way he'd be able to face them in battle.

"What promise...?" Luke asked, turning to Guy, "What's he talking about?"

"Well..."

"My family served House Gardios for generations," Van explained, "When we were reunited under Duke Fabre, we swore revenge for Hod together."

Before he could tell Van that he was no longer interested, Asch rushed into the office, and Van turned to him.

Van tried to get Asch to rejoin him, to which Asch refused adamantly. Van told him that he would wait for him to change his mind, as he needed Asch to help him with his plan. He then turned his back on the group, dismissing them and Legretta told them to leave.

Outside of the lab, Asch informed them that he had interfered in Baticul because Ion had sent him, and that he had something to give them, but he would give it to them at the inn. He went ahead of them without waiting for a response.

Once he was out of sight, the others all turned on Guy and immediately started asking him questions.

Guy was only a little surprised at how suspicious of him they all were.

"Look," Guy said,"It's true I used to be on Van's side...but not anymore. Our objectives are no longer the same."

"And you want us to believe that?" Anise demanded.

"You know we're a suspicious lot," Jade shrugged.

Guy sighed, "If you want me gone, then I'll leave." Maybe if he left he could go back to Baticul to get Alex away from the manor...There was no telling what Mohs would do to her.

"Stop it, all of you," Natalia finally cut in, "I believe Guy is trustworthy. After all, he went back to Yulia City to get Luke when none of us would."

"Yeah," Luke agreed, "I trust you, Guy, and I want you to keep watching me."

"...Alright," Guy said, feeling a little awkward.

"I don't believe Guy is untrustworthy either," Jade shrugged, "I was only being suspicious to show formality."

"You're all going to regret trusting people so easily one day…" Anise muttered. When everyone turned their attention toward her she plastered her usual smile onto her face and continued, "Never mind! Asch is waiting for us at the inn, right? Let's go!" Everyone watched her run ahead of the group.

"What was that about?" Luke asked.

"I don't know," Jade said slowly, "I think I'll be keeping an eye on her for a while. Let's catch up to her, shall we?"

Anise had already entered the hotel by the time the rest of them arrived, and Guy felt overwhelming relief wash over him when he entered the hotel after her, but when he took a closer look he felt that something was wrong.

Alex and Noelle were there, but Alex was leaning on Asch's shoulder while Noelle stood beside her and helped Asch hold her up.

Guy knew they never should have left Baticul without her. She looked awful; she was pale and looked extremely sick, her eyes were almost all pupil – he couldn't see any green in them at all from where he was standing, and she was having trouble keeping her legs from shaking beneath her. What the hell had Mohs done to her?

"What happened to her?" Anise was asking as the others approached them, looks of confusion and concern on their faces.

"Dist got to her before we could," Asch replied.

Jade sighed, "Let's get her into a bed before we discuss this further."

"No," Alex shook her head, "M'okay."

"She's been refusing to sit down or anything," Noelle informed them, "She keeps saying she's fine, but she can't even stand on her own. She was alright with sitting until we got to Belkend, but for some reason she won't anymore…"

"Whether or not she wants to, she needs to lie down," Jade said, "I've seen the effects of this particular drug before, it doesn't fully wear off for a little over a day. Approximately when did Dist do this to her?"

"Last night," Asch said, "Before we left Baticul."

"So it won't wear off for a little while yet. Like I said, she needs to lie down."

Anise rushed off to get them a room for Alex as Tear asked, "Would healing help her at all?"

"We got a healer for her after it happened," Asch replied, "It didn't help that much."

"I doubt it would have any effect this late after she's taken in the drug anyway," Jade replied, "But she will recover fully from this. The drug should begin to wear off in a few hours, until then someone should be with her at all times, to make sure she doesn't get any worse. If something happens, tell me immediately." Anise rejoined them and handed Jade a room key, "For now let's get her into a bed, and then I'd like to ask some questions about this."

They had some difficulty with getting Alex into the room, since she couldn't really support herself. It took both Asch and Luke to get her there, and when they did enter the room Alex refused to lie down, but they did manage to get her to sit down on the bed.

It was fair to say that Guy wanted to kill Dist for doing this. He'd always thought the man was just an egotistical idiot, the comic-relief of the God-Generals, and that they didn't really have to worry about him. Boy, did this prove him wrong.

"So what happened?" Jade asked Asch. Guy couldn't take his eyes off of Alex, who had Luke and Anise on either side of her. Alex had her eyes fixed on one spot on the floor, her hands shaking a bit in her lap.

"I'm not sure," Asch said, "I wasn't there. Garcia was the one who got her out of there; you'd have to ask her. All I know is that her sword and capacity core were taken, and that Dist drugged her. I don't know what he was planning, but I think it's safe to say that whatever it was wasn't good."

"Do you know where Garcia went, Asch?" Natalia asked.

"No idea. She said she had somebody to talk to in the city when we arrived, haven't seen her since. She didn't seem like she wanted to leave though."

Jade sighed, "It's of little importance, I believe I might know what Dist was planning."

"Are you going to tell us what it was?" Guy asked, already knowing what his answer would be.

"Not until I know for certain it is what he was planning."

"You need to stop saying things like that if you're not going to tell us!" Anise pouted.

Asch pulled a book out of his uniform, Guy wasn't quite sure how he had carried around, seeing as it was quite large, "Fon Master Ion asked me to give this to you," he said, handing the book to Jade.

"I see. 'Genesis of the World'… It'll take me the night to read it, everyone should rest until then. Make sure to keep an eye on Alex as well. Perhaps take it in turns to watch over her."

* * *

The next few hours were spent watching over Alex after they had finally managed to get her to lie down. Guy had spent the first two hours with her in her room, before Luke entered and told him to go clear his head. Easier said than done. He'd decided to talk a walk to try and get his mind off of things, but all he could do is visualize several different scenarios in which Dist had the crap beaten out of him. Considering Guy was usually a very calm and patient person, this was saying a lot.  
Guy sighed, he just knew leaving her in Baticul was a bad idea.

He was just thinking about returning to the inn when he heard a voice coming from a nearby alleyway.

"Garcia told me what happened to Alexandra," Van said, emerging from the shadows. "I am deeply sorry for what Dist has done. I would like you to know that I do not condone what happened."

Guy turned to him, knowing he was being sincere.

"I would like to speak with you," Van said, "If it is convenient for you."

Guy nodded and followed him into the alleyway, where they wouldn't be overheard. Speaking to Van might get his mind off of Alex for a little while, and it was also a good opportunity for him to try and talk Van out of his plans.

…

When Alex woke up she felt a lot better. She still felt sick, she had a headache and her arms and legs were tingling slightly, as if they were waking up.  
She sat up in her bed, happy that she no longer needed support. She looked to her side and saw Luke watching her.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

"A bit. What time is it?"

Luke shrugged, "About ten, I guess. Guy just left about an hour ago…"

"I want to go for a walk," she announced, "I need fresh air."

Luke looked at her for a few moments, "Are you sure? I mean, can you even walk on your own?"

Alex got out of her bed and stood still for a moment. Her legs no longer shook beneath her, and she started to walk toward the door. She had to move slowly, she still felt a little weak, but she could finally walk on her own.

She heard Luke sigh behind her, "Alright, but I'm coming with you."

She didn't argue with him as he accompanied her out the door and left the inn with her. They walked in complete silence for about fifteen minutes before they heard voices coming from the alleyway next to the lab. Alex recognized the voices as belonging to Guy and Van.

They both stopped, not wanting to interrupt.

"Why is Guy talking to Van?" Alex asked in a whisper.

"Oh, that's right, you weren't with us. Guy and Van knew each other on Hod; apparently they swore revenge for Hod together in the manor."

Alex was surprised by this information, "Really? You don't think Guy is still on his side?"

"What? No I trust him. Don't tell me you think Guy would betray us?"

Alex shook her head, "Of course not…Just making sure…"

Luke looked skeptically at her for a moment before whispering, "You think we should give them some privacy?"

"Wait," Alex suddenly whispered when she heard Van say her name, "Be quiet."

"…So Alexandra still doesn't remember?" Van was saying.

"You really think we should be eavesdropping?" Luke whispered.

"Shh! Van just said my name, I want to know why they're talking about me."

"He's probably just apologizing for Dist-"

"Shh!"

"No," Guy replied to Van, "At this rate, I don't think she ever will. She's still having those dreams, but she isn't getting any closer to figuring them out."

Alex knitted her eyebrows together in thought. What were they talking about? What didn't she remember?

"Have you ever thought about telling her yourself?" Van asked, "It could be easier than waiting for her to remember."

"I think it's a little late for that now, after how many years it's been," Guy replied, "For the last sixteen years she's believed she's a Fabre. If I told her now that she's really from Hod, she could lose her mind. Could you imagine being told you were raised by your parents' murderer?"

Alex felt like time stopped around her. What was Guy saying? She looked at Luke to see he was staring at her with wide eyes.

"You're from Hod?" he mouthed.

Alex didn't reply. It couldn't be true. But why would Guy lie about something like that, especially if he didn't know she was around?

When she thought about it, it made sense. It explained why Guy never distanced himself too much from her in the manor, like he did with Luke before he was kidnapped. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of those thoughts. She didn't want to believe it; it couldn't be true. She didn't want to believe that her entire life as she knew it was a lie.

"I have a message for you from Isabell," Van said, "Were you surprised when you first saw her?"

"I didn't think she was alive. So yes, I was surprised," Guy replied, "That wasn't the message, was it?"

"No. She wants you and Alex to join us; she does not wish to fight you. I feel the same way. I don't want to have to fight both of you, and Tear as well."

"I'm sorry," Guy replied, "But I don't agree with your methods - I think they're crazy, actually…"

Alex didn't want to listen any more. She was too focused on the thought of being from Hod that she didn't even care who this Isabell person was, even though it was the second time she had been mentioned.

She got up, the feelings of nausea she had recently got over returning, and began to make her way back to the inn, not even caring that Luke was on her heels.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, placing a hand on her shoulder to try and get her to stop walking.

"I'm fine, Luke," she replied, shrugging his hand away as she kept walking putting on a burst of speed she didn't think she should have been capable of in her state. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

"Are you sure?" he asked, picking up his pace so he could walk beside her. Alex noticed that he looked really worried, "Because you don't look fine. I can sort of relate, I mean, I had to learn my whole life was a lie too-"

"I said I'm fine, Luke," Alex snapped as they entered the inn. She took a quick look around the lobby and was happy to see no one else was there.

Luke flinched when she snapped at him, making her feel a little guilty.

"I'm sorry, Luke," she sighed, "I just need to be left alone for a while… So I can think about this."

He nodded at her, looking at her with pity, which quite frankly only annoyed her.

"And please," Alex added, "Please don't tell anyone about this. Especially Guy," when Luke looked at her questioningly she continued, "I'd like to be able to think about this by myself for a while, before everyone starts bombarding me with questions…"

"Okay," Luke said slowly, still watching her carefully, "I get it."

Alex nodded at him before walking away and heading toward her room. She still felt sick, and faint, and her legs suddenly felt like lead. It felt like all the symptoms of that drug were coming back. It was a wonder she was even able to make it to her room without passing out.

When she entered her room, she didn't even bother to turn on the light before heading toward her bed. She stopped though, when she heard someone moving around in the room.

She wasn't sharing this room with anyone; nobody was supposed to be there.

"Who's there?" Alex called out to the room, wishing her sword hadn't been taken from her in Baticul.

"Don't worry," said a familiar voice, "It's just me."


	23. Confessions

_Chapter 23: Confessions_

"Who's there?" Alex called out to the room, wishing her sword hadn't been taken from her in Baticul.

"Don't worry," said a familiar voice. She knew who it was in a second, "It's just me."

"Garcia?" Alex questioned as Garcia turned on the fonon lantern in the room. She was sitting on Alex's bed, smiling at the shocked look on her face. "What are you doing here?"

Garcia shrugged, "I saw you eavesdropping on Guy and Van. I'm a little happy you did, to be honest. How are you feeling?"

"I _was_ feeling a bit better…" Alex crossed her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow at the woman in her room. "And why would you be happy about me eavesdropping?"

Garcia sighed deeply, "My first name is Isabell," she said, as if it explained everything. She stared hard at Alex, making eye contact. It annoyed Alex to no extent; she hated it when people expected her to be able to read their minds.

It took Alex a moment to understand what Garcia was saying, "...The person who sent that message asking Guy and me to join Van?" Alex asked slowly. Garcia nodded slowly, not breaking eye contact. "Why do you want us to join Van? Why don't you want to fight us?"

Garcia sighed again, "Honestly, I could care less about fighting most of your group. I would like to avoid fighting Guy, if possible…but Van knows that I refuse to fight you."

"Why?" Alex asked again, getting frustrated.

"Why do you think we look so similar?" Garcia asked.

"I'm not your replica," Alex said indignantly, "Or vice versa. You're older than me."

Garcia smiled slightly, "No, that's not what I was trying to imply. Any other guesses?"

"I don't want to guess!" Alex said through gritted teeth, she was really frustrated now, she just wanted an answer, straight and simple. She had enough going on in her mind, she didn't need to be playing any stupid mind games. "You obviously know, just tell me!"

Alex noticed Garcia was looking at her with sad eyes; that was odd. Usually Garcia didn't show much emotion, she was normally cool and sarcastic; kind of like Jade. He hardly ever showed his emotions either.

"Tell me!" Alex said again when Garcia didn't say anything.

Garcia began to rub her temples, "Don't freak out," was all she said, looking in the opposite direction.

"It's a little late for that!" Alex replied through gritted teeth, shaking with anger, "I just learned my entire life is a lie! You think I should be acting like everything is completely normal?"

"Of course not, I'd be more concerned if you were acting like it was normal," Garcia replied, still avoiding Alex's question.

Alex began to glare at her, and opened her mouth to demand that Garcia tell her once again, but before she could, Garcia finally answered.

"You weren't an only child," she said, turning her head back to face Alex, "Your biological parents had two children - two girls."

Alex's eyes widened, she still had her mouth open, though now it was open in shock. What was she saying?

"The older of the two was twelve when the Hod War began; she was eight years older than her younger sister, who was only four at the time."

Alex had already figured out that the Duke was lying when he said she was beaten when she was four, causing her to lose her memory, but now she knew what the truth was. She'd lost her memory because of the trauma of losing her family in the Hod War; she'd forgotten she had an older sister.

"I'm sure you don't really need me to say it any more, but your real surname is Garcia."

Alex was in complete shock by now, this was too much information in such a short amount of time. And on top of it all, she was related to a God-General? She had no idea what to say - or do.

She began to shake harder and tears sprang to her eyes, the situation was too much. "I-I don't—"

"Alex, please believe me. It's been painful enough for me to have to go against the only family I have left; even more painful when I knew that you had no idea we're related." Garcia looked tortured. She looked like she was about to start crying as well. Alex knew she had to be telling the truth. Van wouldn't send someone to say these things just so she would join him. She wasn't even good enough on the battlefield for him to even feel the need to. "You've been wondering why Guy seems to know me, right? Well this is why. We all knew each other in Hod."

Alex wanted to scream, to cry at the top of her lungs. But at the same time, she didn't want anyone to start worrying about her - and they'd all hear her crying, as the inn was small. They'd probably even heard her talking to Garcia already. The others all had their own problems, she didn't want them worrying about hers.

It saddened her that the fact that she had a troubled past made her feel more like she belonged in the group.

Everything about her was a lie - everything. She was raised by the person who most likely killed her real parents. That thought alone made her sick to her stomach . Why the hell would someone adopt the child of people they had just killed? As some sick, twisted joke? No, it probably had something to do with the _Score_. Hatred bubbled up inside of her. Of course, the Score seemed to cause more harm than good to the people close to her, why should it be any different for her?

And to make her feel worse, she was related to a God-General - an enemy? It wasn't that she disliked Garcia, in fact, she'd grown to like her when she and Asch saved her and Noelle back in Baticul. She was more upset about being related to her because she wouldn't be able to fight her now that she knew the truth. She didn't want to have to fight family, even if she just met her and found out she was family.

In her heart she knew Garcia was telling the truth, it explained why she had always looked so familiar. Then it hit her; the young girl from the dream she had when they were evacuating the people from Engeve, it was Garcia from before the Hod War. Alex realized she had no choice but to believe Garcia was telling the truth, but that didn't mean she had no problem with all of it. She sat down on her bed and covered her face with her hands.

She really wanted to scream.

There was no way for her to find everything out slowly? She had to find everything out all at once?

And she thought finding out Luke was a replica and Asch was 'her real brother' was bad.

"It's just so much information in such a short amount of time…" she managed to say, her voice quiet and hoarse, she was hardly aware she was even speaking, "I don't think I can handle it…"

"I know," Garcia said, looking at her with sad eyes, "Take as much time as you need to process it. I'll answer any questions I can when you're ready to start asking."

Alex already had one question she wanted to ask her, "Garcia, why are you with Van?"

Garcia smiled, as if she knew Alex would ask that. "Call me Bell, it feels weird having you call me by our last name," she heaved a sigh before continuing, "And I'm with

Van because I dislike the Score. Hod's destruction was foretold, and nobody did anything to stop it. Much like Akzeriuth."

Alex nodded, figuring it would be something like that. That was why Guy was working with him at first, wasn't it?

"I think I know the answer to this already," Bell said, looking apprehensive, "But I know you dislike the Score as well. I've heard you say it. Please. Join us. I don't want to fight you."

"I'm sorry," Alex replied, "I won't say I like the Score, because I don't, but I don't believe in Van's methods. I want to find a way to make people less dependent on the Score without destroying the Outer Lands. I think Guy would agree with me too, or he'd still be on your side. Besides, the people I travel with aren't just my companions any more, they're my friends. I wouldn't be able to fight them if I tried."

Bell nodded, "I understand that all too well."

"Gar- Bell, could I ask you something else?"

"Of course."

"What were our parents like?"

Bell smiled and closed her eyes, leaning her head back. Alex knew she was most likely imagining her life on Hod.

"Mother was very kind. She wasn't happy unless she was around us," Alex found herself smiling, a strong feeling of nostalgia washing over her, "She played the piano a lot too, we used to listen to her play all the time, and she had started to teach me how to play before the war. Father was kind to us as well, but he was always busy with work. He was hardly ever home, and when he was he spent a lot of time in his study. He tried to spend time with us when he could. He called me 'Angel', and you were 'Dearest'," she chuckled slightly, "We shared a room, and you used to sneak out in the middle of the night sometimes just to spend time with him in his study."

Alex gasped inwardly, the dream she had practically every night, it was about her and her father.

"We weren't nobles or anything, like Guy's family, our family had about the same status as Van's. The five of us kids were very close."

"Five?"

"Yes, Van was eleven when the Hod War started, and Guy had an older sister who I was particularly close to. But I think I'll stop explaining things there," Bell said, Alex was about to protest when she continued, "I know you want to find out more, but I'm sure Guy's been wanting to talk to you about this for years. Wait until you decide to tell him that you know about everything to have your questions answered. Besides, I should leave before somebody figures out I'm here. And you should try and get a little more rest before you have to meet the others in the morning."

She got up and walked over to the door before turning back to Alex, "I promise I'll see you again soon. And I'm happy you turned out to be a great young woman. Mother and Father would be proud."

With that, she left Alex sitting on her bed, staring at the door she left through, tears cascading down her cheeks. She knew she wouldn't be able to get any more sleep that night.

...

Guy entered the inn room he shared with Luke and looked over at the bed the redhead currently occupied, obviously pretending to be asleep.

"I know you're awake, Luke. And I know you were eavesdropping."

"…Sorry, Guy," Luke eventually replied, slowly sitting up in his bed.

"So you know about Alex," Guy sighed.

"Yeah..." he scratched his head, "I'm really sorry about eavesdropping, but now I know why you were always so nice to her at the manor, even though she was 'the Duke's daughter'." He air-quoted the words. "Was she the reason you never went through with your revenge?"

"I guess it was part of the reason, yeah. But I could never really do something like that anyway, at least not when I was so young. I kept trying to tell myself it was what I wanted, but I could never really bring myself to actually do it. And now that I'm friends with you and know what you all are like as people, I could never go through with it," he paused, noticing Luke's confused look. He knew what it was about and answered his unasked question, "That doesn't mean I've grown to like your father though, my feelings toward him are the same as they were sixteen years ago."

"What about Asch? You still have hard feelings toward him."

Guy hesitated, "I'm not sure where I stand with him. I never really got the chance to get to know him, so really I still think of him as the son of the man who murdered my family," he sighed heavily and sat down on his bed before adding, "Don't tell Natalia I said that. I don't think I want her getting angry with me right now, she's stressed out, and she's already scary enough when she's angry as it is."

"Okay," Luke agreed, he would understand what Guy meant by that, he'd faced Natalia's wrath more often than anyone else.

"Thanks."

"So…" Luke started, looking a bit awkward, "Are you going to tell Alex?"

Guy sighed, "Not yet, there's too much going on right now. And you can't tell her either, alright?"

Luke nodded slowly; Guy was too preoccupied to notice that he wasn't making eye contact.

"So… I guess this means Father can't stop you and Alex getting together, huh?"

Guy, who was staring at the wall across from him, shot his head back in Luke's direction at those words.

"Wh-what?"

Luke either didn't hear his response, or really wanted to change the subject. Guy zoned in and out as Luke rambled on about how he wasn't really Alex's brother and as such he couldn't get in the way of their relationship. Somehow, as he continued to ramble, he got onto the topic of Akzeriuth and how he acted before then, mentioning that if he hadn't learned his lesson back then he would probably still be trying to get in between them. He admitted that when they were all back in the manor he was a bit jealous of the time they spent together and how close they were, and how back then he thought attention not spent on him was attention wasted. Finally, he ended with saying that he fully supported their relationship, and would help them out in any way he could. Guy found himself heating up with every word he said.

"Hold on, Luke. I still have my phobia, remember? Even if I wanted to, I couldn't…" he paused, trying to think of the right words, "…Pursue anything with Alex," he sighed again before continuing, shocked at how depressed he sounded, "At this rate, I couldn't give her the attention she needs, or a family… or anything, really. She should be with someone who can give her those things."

Luke didn't say anything in response, which made Guy look up at him to see the redhead grinning broadly at him.

"You seem to be enjoying my pain," Guy said to him with heavy sarcasm in his voice.

"You just admitted it!" Luke said, pointing at him, a smile still on his face.

"What?"

"You _do_ have feelings for her!" Luke exclaimed, jumping off of his bed, looking like his birthday had come early. "Everyone thought you did, but we didn't know for sure! This is great!"

"How is this great?" Guy asked, slightly irritated at his best friend's happiness, "Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"Sorry, sorry." Luke replied, scratching his nose and sitting back down, his smile fading, "So you'd actually just stand back and watch her go with someone else, just because he can do a few things you can't?"

"You mean like be able to be within a three foot radius of her?" Guy asked, raising an eyebrow, "Really, Luke, I know you're a bit naïve when it comes to that sort of thing, but those 'few things I can't do' are actually pretty important when it comes to a relationship."

"But you would let that happen?" Luke asked, looking suddenly serious, "Even if it makes you miserable?"

"If it makes her happy, then yeah, I guess."

"So you'll just give up then?" Luke asked, "After you just admitted you like her? You won't even try to get over your phobia?"

"I don't think I'll ever really be able to get over this damn phobia. Not when I don't even remember what caused it. Maybe if I did know, I would be able to slowly get over it…"

"So then we just need to help you get that memory back! Then you'll—"

"It's not that simple, Luke." Guy said, shaking his head.

"Why not? She clearly means something to you. If she does, then that should be a reason to try and get over your phobia. And it's pretty obvious she likes you too, so why would you want her to end up with someone else? Would you ever be able to forgive yourself if she ended up with someone like…I dunno… Jade, maybe?"

Guy cringed as he imagined her with him, "Don't even joke about that! Anyway, even if I do start to get over my phobia, who knows how long it would take. For all I know, by the time I get over it, some other guy could have her interest. Who's to say she'll be patient enough to wait for me?"

"You'll never know unless you try! Besides, I think there's too much going on for her to really be thinking about a relationship. Maybe you'll be over your phobia when all of this is over with, and then you can go from there. But at the same time, I think it would be a good idea to try and get closer to her before you're stuck in the 'friend zone'. And in terms of other guys for her to be interested in, there's really only Jade-"

"I told you not to-"

"Okay, sorry. Look, you won't be happy if you don't at least try. And if things work out you could be really happy! When you look at it that way, why wouldn't you try?"

Guy wondered where Luke had come up with all of this. He was supposed to be a naïve seven year old, who did he learn this from? Certainly not him.

Luke took Guy's silence as a good thing and his childish smile returned, "You know I'm right."

"I wasn't going to say you were wrong."

"So you're going to try?" Luke asked happily.

"You can't tell her or anyone else about this, or her being from Hod."

"Why don't you want her to know about Hod?" Luke asked, his smile fading.

"I do!" Guy replied, closing his eyes, placing his elbows on his knees, and rubbing his temples with his fingers. "You have no idea how much I've wanted to tell her since I first saw her in the manor. I've wanted to talk to her about this for the eleven years I've been a servant there. You don't know how much it killed me when I first realized she had no idea who I was…"

When he opened his eyes he saw Luke looking at him with pity. "You had feelings for her even then?" he asked with confusion in his voice.

"Don't be stupid," Guy sighed, "I was only ten when I went to the manor with Pere. We knew each other on Hod, our families were close. To be honest though we didn't really get along on Hod," Guy laughed, "It took a couple years of effort on her part after I came to the manor for us to really be friends. Anyway, when Van started training the two of you, he realized who she was too, so we started planning together on how to tell her in a way that she'd believe us - we planned for her to join us in our plans for revenge without your father knowing - or at least get out her out of the manor before it happened."

"Oh…" Guy could tell Luke felt a little awkward about the last part.

"It's alright, Luke," said Guy, sighing again, "I don't want revenge any more, remember?"

"Yeah, I know. I trust you, Guy. But anyway, why don't you tell Alex now?"

Guy could tell by the expression on Luke's face that he desperately wanted him to tell her, or he was hiding something.

"Why do you want her to know so badly?..." Guy asked with suspicion in his voice.

"Oh, you know. I'm a bad liar. I'd probably accidentally blurt it out or something, then she'd be mad at you for not telling her. But I'll try my best not to tell her!" he added, "I just don't want to be the reason you guys fight again, so why don't you just tell her now? Besides, she has a right to know, it's her life." he said all of this very fast, not giving Guy the chance to interrupt.

"Because there's already a lot going on right now…" Guy repeated what he said earlier, trying to ignore Luke's suspicious behaviour, "Telling her now would only stress her out. And especially after what she's been through in the past two days alone…I want to wait for a better time. I'll tell her after the Outer Lands are safe."

"That's a good plan…" Luke replied, "Why do you think Dist drugged her anyway?"

"I don't know, Luke," Guy sighed, rubbing his temples, "But I have a really bad feeling about it. At least we know that it was Mohs who got Dist to do it and not Van, not that it makes much of a difference."

"How do you know that?"

"Van apologized for the whole thing. Besides, he wants Tear, Alex, and me to join him as fellow Hod survivors and all, he wouldn't go and drug Alex to try and get us to join him. Even though it's pretty safe to say that'll never happen."

"I know. I trust you guys," he gave a small laugh, "I'm still surprised you all stuck by me all this time. Especially with how mopey I've been lately."

"Honestly? So am I."

Luke crossed his arms, "Hey! Anyway…You said you were going to tell Alex the truth after the Outer Lands were safe, but you're still going to try getting closer to her until then, right? At least try and get over your phobia?"

"Why do you care so much about that?" Guy groaned, falling backwards onto his bed and covering his face with his hands. He was getting tired of that particular topic.

"Because I still think of Alex as a sister, and you're my best friend. I want you both to be happy, and I know you'd be happy together."

Guy uncovered his face and looked at Luke, an eyebrow raised, "Most guys would be a little upset about their best friend going out with their sister."

"Do you want my blessing or not?"

Guy laughed in spite of himself, "Thanks, Luke."

...

Alex felt absolutely horrible by the time morning came. She hadn't gotten any decent sleep in the entire night, all the crying she had done had given her a horrible headache, and she still felt slightly nauseous from the after-effects of the drug. But at least she had all the feeling back in her arms and legs.

She wandered over to the mirror in her room to see the damage the events of the past couple days had done to her.

Her hair was an absolute mess, though that could be fixed. What would cause problems were her red, puffy eyes, underneath which were very noticeable bags. She was paler than Jade, which was saying a lot, and yet her skin was red and blotchy around her eyes. Damn. There was no way she could make any of that less noticeable by the time she met the others. At least she had what happened with Dist to use as a cover for why she looked so awful. The others would buy that.

To make the morning worse, all she saw in her reflection was the red hair and green eyes, and her anger at her situation grew stronger.

Sighing heavily, she reached for her brush and quickly tamed her red tangles to the best of her ability. To her annoyance, her hair still managed to look messy no matter how many times she brushed it. Giving up on her hair, she got changed into her clothes and headed out the door, preparing herself for the worst.  
And of course the worst happened, of all the people in the inn that she could have been spotted by, it had to be Guy, who was just leaving the room he had shared with Luke.

She didn't say anything when he saw her.

He looked sadly at her, "I guess it would pointless for me to ask how you're feeling?"

Alex inhaled deeply, she didn't want to lie to him, she tried to feel less guilty about it by reminding herself that he never told her about her past when they spent years together, but it didn't really help, she knew he had probably wanted to.

"Yeah…" she finally said, at least that wasn't a lie, "Hopefully…hopefully I'll be feeling better soon, but right now I have a killer headache, and overall I just feel like crap. At least I can speak properly now though." She conveniently left out the part where she had been up all night thinking about the fact that she was from Hod and was related to a God-General. "I swear; I should kill Dist the next time I see him."

Guy nodded, "I feel like this is my fault. I knew we shouldn't have left you in Baticul."

She shook her head, "No, it's no one's fault. Nobody could have known Mohs or Dist would want to…" She drifted off, not wanting to tell him or anybody about Dist's plan to replicate her.

"Want to what? You were too out of it that we couldn't get you to tell us what he was planning."

She shook her head again, "Nothing, I don't know… My mind's foggy – I can't remember it clearly."

He looked at her with a disbelieving expression on his face, and she knew he knew that she was lying to him.

"Alex…"

"Please…I don't want to talk about it. Not right now, anyway."

He looked at her for a while, and then sighed. "Alright… But if you ever do want to talk about it-"

"Thanks, Guy."

There was an awkward pause between them.

"Umm… Jade and the others are waiting for us, right?" Alex said, wanting an excuse to end the conversation before she accidentally blurted out that she had overheard him talking to Van to break the awkward silence, "We should go."

"Are you sure you're up to it? You look like you could use a bit more rest. The others will understand - we can come get you when we're ready to leave Belkend."

Alex smiled despite herself. Always the gentleman.

"No, I'm alright. I doubt I'd get any sleep anyway."

Guy looked hesitant, but sighed again and started walking down the hallway. She started following him.

"Alright, but if you start feeling any worse, we're staying an extra night in Belkend so you can rest. Even if the others have to go and get something done; they'll just have to send Noelle to come get us after or something, or they could send a carrier pigeon telling us where they are and we can take a ferry or something to meet them." He didn't leave any room for discussion, and Alex knew he meant business. She knew she had this coming, especially after she had done the same to him after his curse slot was removed.

Alex was again left without anything to say. He was worried about her, and she was flat-out lying to him. She was a horrible person. She nodded again in response to what he said and they entered the lobby. Anise's voice was the first to greet them.

"Finally! There you - Whoa! Alex, you look worse than yesterday!"

"You do look awful," Natalia added, looking at her with concern.

"I'm alright," Alex said, knowing they weren't going to buy it. She tried to change the subject. "Where's Asch?"

"We've already managed to scare him away," Jade replied sarcastically,

"And you don't look alright," Tear added, stepping toward her and placing a hand on her forehead, "It looks like you might have a fever. Here - I could try to heal you. It might not get rid of all the pain, but it'll help get rid of some of it."

Alex swatted her hand away, "No, I'm fine! Don't worry about me, let's just start this meeting."

"Before we get to that," Jade said, "I'd like to know more about what happened with Dist."

The others all stared at Alex, clearly having wanted to ask the very same question.

"I-I don't really remember clearly," she lied again, "All I remember is Dist coming into my room and cornering me. And then he injected whatever that drug was...My mind's too foggy, I can't remember anything that happened after that."

She could actually remember bits and pieces, like everything he said about replicating her before he drugged her, and then afterwards she remembered seeing Bell standing above her, shouting at Dist, but other than that there was nothing.

"...I see."

She looked up and saw that they were all still staring at her, Jade giving her 'the look'. The one that said he knew she was lying and that he would be questioning her later. Noelle interrupted the uncomfortable silence.

"How about you and I go for a walk? I don't think you'll be paying attention to Jade in that state anyway. The fresh air might make you feel better."  
Alex actually liked this idea; she wouldn't have to be around the others this way.

"That sounds good," she replied, smiling at Noelle. The two of them left the inn together, the rest of the group watching them leave.

They walked in silence for about a half-hour, Noelle seemed to understand that Alex wouldn't want to talk, instead the blonde woman kept herself entertained by humming a soft tune. Alex found it oddly soothing.

"So," Noelle said suddenly, "I get the feeling you weren't telling us the full story about what happened with Dist. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I can't," Alex replied, "I don't want the others to know," she sighed, "Especially Guy…He'd get really worried, and probably react the same way he did in Belkend," she added under her breath, hoping Noelle didn't hear it.

Apparently she did hear it, "Oh, yeah, I heard about that from Anise. I think it's sweet that he cared enough to look out for you. But if this is something you're that worried about, you should tell us. We can help. And honestly you couldn't really blame Guy or anyone for wanting to hurt Dist for something as serious as this."

Alex nodded, that was true, "I'm sorry, Noelle, but I really just don't want to talk about it right now."

"Are you alright?" came a sudden voice from behind them, causing them both to jump before turning to see Asch, walking toward them, he seemed a little shocked by Alex's state. "How the hell did you manage to get worse?"

Alex didn't answer him. She just looked at him, for once seeing what Guy saw, the son of the person who most likely killed her parents. But she also saw more than what Guy did - she and Asch were actually quite similar.

Asch began to get a bit irritated when she didn't answer, "If you're not going to answer me, then fine. I didn't really care anyway."

Alex felt she needed to ask him something - and she needed to ask him now, or she might never be able to. She needed advice and whether Asch was the best person to go to or not, he was the only one who could really help her right now.

"Noelle, could you-?"

"Sure," Noelle replied, seeming to get the picture. She turned around and started to walk away before adding, "I'll just head back to the inn."

"Thanks," said Alex as she turned her gaze to Asch, who was looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What is it?" he asked impatiently.

Alex sighed, it was now or never.

"Asch…" she began, trying to find the right way to word it, "How did you feel when you realized your whole life was stolen from you?"

* * *

**_A/N: I really have no idea when Guy became a servant at the manor. But I know he spent a few years with Pere in St. Binah after Hod, so I just guessed on when he first went to the manor._**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss._**


	24. It Only Gets Worse From Here

_**A/N: Do not own Tales of the Abyss.**_

_**Thank you for your wonderful reviews! You're all wonderful people!**_

* * *

_Chapter 24: It Only Gets Worse From Here_

"How did you feel…when your whole life, your family, everything, was stolen from you?"

Asch stared at her for a second, shock on his face. The shock was quickly replaced with anger.

"Why should I answer that?"

"I'm sorry…" Alex replied, her eyes on the ground, "That was too personal. You don't have to tell me… It's just - I needed some advice."

"And you thought I was the best person to go to?"

Alex didn't respond, instead she turned her head away from him slightly. Asch noticed this action and moved closer to her to get a better look at her face.

"What is it with you today?" he asked, an eyebrow raised, his arms crossed, "You were happy yesterday, what the hell could have happened since then?"

"Um… Well…" Alex replied awkwardly, wondering if she should tell him the truth.

"Well…?" he asked impatiently, "Out with it."

"...The reason I'm asking is," she took a deep breath, "I found out last night that I'm not actually a fon Fabre." She said that last sentence very fast.  
Nobody said anything for a few moments, and Alex finally looked up to see Asch staring at her, still with his arms crossed, waiting for her to continue.

"Apparently I'm from Hod," she continued, more slowly.

"Really?" He uncrossed his arms. Alex noticed in surprise that he actually looked interested, "And Guy never told you?"

"N-no…" Alex responded, thrown off by his sudden interest, "He didn't."

"Hmph. I guess that explains why he always got along with you."

Alex couldn't think of anything to say to that, she was beginning to wonder why she ever thought asking Asch for advice was a good idea. Asch seemed to be wondering the same thing.

"Why are you asking me for advice about this anyway? Wouldn't the news that you're from Hod make you feel the same way about me that Guy does? He's not exactly good at hiding the fact that he hates me."

'You weren't the one killing everyone in Hod. Besides, I think this makes you and me actually pretty similar."

"…Care to explain that?" he asked, raising his eyebrow again.

"Well…" Alex said, placing her finger on her chin in thought, "When Van kidnapped you and created Luke to take your place at the manor, your future and family were stolen from you, and you were forced to live a life that obviously wouldn't have been your first choice. Am I right?" He didn't respond, so she continued, "It's almost the same with what happened to me. The only real differences being the fact that my real family was killed, and that I had no idea I was forced to live a life that really shouldn't have been mine."

For a few moments it was silent again. Then Asch sighed, defeated, and broke the silence.

"I was upset… I guess," he murmured, averting his gaze from Alex.

"Huh?"

"You asked me what I was feeling when I find out Luke stole everything from me," he retorted, looking at her again, "If you aren't going to listen, then why bother asking?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. Go on."

"Whatever… I managed to get myself away from Van and out of Daath shortly after Luke was created. At that time I didn't know I had a replica. I had to find my way back to Baticul on my own, only thoughts of how worried my family must have been to keep me going. Mother was sickly even then; I didn't want her condition to get worse because I was sure she was worrying about me."

Alex was surprised Asch was actually telling her this. She half expected him to just leave without saying anything to her. The idea of Asch opening up to anyone, let alone her, was so shocking she almost thought she was imagining it. She felt sorry for him. He would most likely have opened up more if he wasn't forced to live with only his anger and bitterness toward the person who stole everything from him to keep him company.

"When I finally got back to Baticul I was so sure everyone would be happy to see me. I imagined they would all welcome me home with open arms, and my life would go back to normal," he paused, and his eyes darkened, "But that wasn't what happened. You can imagine how confused I was when the guards wouldn't let me into the manor. When I told them who I was they laughed in my face and said I was a liar before telling me to leave. And when I managed to sneak into the courtyard through a secret entrance I had found a few years before, I was surprised to see a boy who looked like me surrounded by my family."

Alex didn't know what to say, so she kept listening.

"When I finally put two and two together, I was angry. I couldn't believe how easily everyone was fooled. Even Natalia didn't notice he was a fake! We spent every day together and she didn't even notice that his hair was lighter than mine… Everything's a blur after that. All I know is I somehow ended up back in Daath with Van."

"What did you do after that?" Alex asked, "How did you cope with everything?"

"I became a God-General," Asch answered, meeting her eyes, "Van persuaded me. He fed me lies, telling me his goal was to make Luke suffer for taking my place. I didn't know it was him who was responsible for Luke's creation. I trained under him; he was like a father to me during that time. He gave me a new name, one that was befitting of a God-General. As the years went by, I started to realize he was using me, but I didn't care then. I wanted to feel like someone needed me," he gave a soft sigh, "I drew the line at Akzeriuth. Although you all forgot about me, I didn't want to stand by as Van destroyed the Outer Lands and my family along with it. I only held a real grudge against the replica who stole my existence, he was the only one who was supposed to suffer, not the rest of the planet."

"Asch-"

"If you tell anyone about this," Asch interrupted, "Especially Natalia, I'll-"

"Don't worry," Alex cut across him, holding a hand up to get him to stop talking, "I won't tell anyone. If you promise not to tell anyone I'm from Hod. Especially Guy."

"Whatever, it's your business. Besides, I'm not the one traveling around with the people I'd like to keep my secret from."

"Fair point," Alex conceded, nodding her head, "Alright, then it's a deal. Neither of us says anything."

"Fine," he shrugged, "If that's all you wanted from me-"

He broke off when the man Alex recognized as Spinoza from Belkend's lab suddenly ran by them, pushing Alex to the side in his haste.

"Hey, watch it!" she yelled after him as she stumbled backwards, trying to regain balance.

"That's Spinoza," Asch quietly said, narrowing his eyes at the man as he watched him run away, "Why is he in such a hurry?…"

"Asch! Alex!"

They both turned their heads to the person calling them to see it was Luke running towards them with the others in tow. Alex noticed they had two elderly people in lab uniforms accompanying them. She tilted her head in curiosity, wondering why they were with the others.

"Have you seen Spinoza?" Luke asked when the others reached them.

"He just ran past us," Asch said, pointing in the direction Spinoza had been running.

"Why?" Alex asked, finally looking away from the two newcomers, "Is something wrong?"

"We caught him eavesdropping on a conversation we were having with the Governor," Jade replied, "I believe he's going to report what he heard to Van."

"Spinoza's not that kind of man!" the women of the two elderly people protested.

"You can't judge a book by its cover," Anise told her.

"…Were you talking about something you wouldn't want overheard?" Asch asked, ignoring the last two comments.

"They're going to secretly rebuild a fon machine from the forbidden text you gave us," Natalia explained, "We're going to use it to stop the core's vibrations."

"We're going to bring Ion here in the meantime," Luke added, turning to Alex, "So we can enter the Sephiroth," Alex nodded in response; she was more than a little confused about what was going on. Maybe she should have stayed with the others while they discussed what they were going to do.

"…At any rate, we just need to catch Spinoza, right?" Asch asked, staring Luke down, "I'll find him."

"You're helping us!" Natalia exclaimed happily, clasping her hands together in front of her chest and smiling brightly at him.

"D-don't get me wrong!" Asch sputtered, turning away from the group, "I want to ask Spinoza something myself. I'm just helping you on the side. I do not intend to get friendly with you people and that replica!"

Since Alex was still standing right next to him, she was the only one who noticed the faint blush on his cheeks. He said he didn't want Van to destroy the whole planet, but Alex guessed the main reason he didn't want Auldrant destroyed was because of Natalia.

Asch left Belkend, seeming to not want to spend any more time with them. "Hurry up and go get Ion!" he called back to them as he walked away.

"Jerk…" Luke muttered.

"Don't talk about him like that!" the old woman piped up, "He reminds me of a young Iemon, he's probably shy and lonely."

The old man beside her scoffed, "That makes him all the worse."

Alex watched their exchange for a moment, still wondering who they were.

"Are you feeling any better?" Guy asked Alex, startling her and making her jump. She didn't notice him approach her.

"What?" she asked, "Oh. Yeah, a bit." It wasn't completely true, but it wasn't a lie either; talking to Asch had actually helped a bit. "Who are those two?" she asked, nodding towards the still bickering elderly duo.

"Hencken and Cathy. They'll be making a device to measure the frequency of the core's vibrations while we go to Daath to get Ion," he said quickly, before asking her again, "Are you sure you're feeling better? You don't need to stay here for an extra night or anything?"

Alex shook her head, smiling slightly at how worried he was about her, "No, I'm okay."

"Really?" Guy asked again, narrowing his eyes at her. He obviously didn't believe her, "You still look tired, how about you get some rest on the Albiore? Without the flight stone, it'll probably take the night to get to Daath anyway," he didn't leave any room for questions.

"I doubt you'll be giving me a choice," Alex muttered, avoiding his gaze and instead watching Hencken and Cathy's continued argument, "So yeah, I'll do that."

"Shall we be going then?" Jade asked the group.

The group collectively agreed and said their goodbyes to Hencken and Cathy, who headed back to their lab to work on the measuring device.

"It'll take a while to get to Daath," Noelle announced when they boarded the Albiore, she took her seat in the pilot's chair before continuing, "It's still only the afternoon, but if any of you need to get some rest…"

Everyone in the room turned their heads to look at Alex, "Alright, I get it," she exclaimed, rolling her eyes and throwing her arms up in the air dramatically, "I'll go get some rest. You happy now?"

"Very," Guy answered, smiling at her.

She stuck her tongue out at him in mock annoyance before turning and heading to one of the small cabins on board the Albiore, not missing Anise's giggle. As she left the others, she felt one particular pair of eyes watching her.

She was almost positive those eyes were red.

Once she reached the cabin, she lay down on the bed, sighing as she did so. She wondered how long she would be able to keep the others in the dark about the whole situation. It wouldn't be long if she didn't at least try to look and act like nothing was wrong. At least she had Luke to talk to if keeping it a secret ever got to be too stressful.

She rolled over in the bed, she should at least try to get some sleep. She was pretty tired, and she wouldn't fool anyone if her state only got worse.

"It's only going to get worse from here," she thought as she closed her eyes, sleep finally taking her for what seemed to be the first time in years.

* * *

_Alex opened her eyes and immediately covered them when they were assaulted by bright light. She was outside, in the courtyard of the manor on a sunny day._  
_She wondered why she was suddenly there, she was in the Albiore just a few moments ago._

_She heard footsteps behind her and turned around, gasping at what she saw._

_"Luke, wait!" a nine year old Alex called, running after her brother, "Mother said we have to stay here to meet this new servant!"_

_Alex's eyes widened in realization. This wasn't merely a dream, it was a memory. A memory of the day she met Guy in the manor. She also realized that this was before Asch was replicated, so Luke wasn't created yet._

_The seven year old Luke stopped, "I don't see why we should wait to see someone we're going to see every day. I want to go see Natalia. And besides, you've already seen him, I can tell by the blush on your face that you think he's cute."_

_"I do not!" the younger Alex cried, stomping her foot in annoyance. The blush on her face clearly said she was lying, and the older Alex found herself smiling and blushing slightly as well. "The guards aren't going to let you out of the manor, Father told them not to."_

_"I know another way out of the manor," Luke shrugged._

_"Honestly, Luke! It'll only take five minutes to meet him, why are you in such a hurry?"_

_"No reason," Luke replied, Alex didn't miss the blush on his face._

_"Aha!" she yelled triumphantly, pointing at his blushing face, "I knew you had a crush on her!"_

_"I-I do not!" he replied, "Why would I have a crush on her? Girls are stupid anyway."_

_"What was that?"_

_"You heard me!"_

_"Then maybe you won't mind if I tell Natalia you said that," Alex replied, crossing her arms._

_Luke's eyes widened in horror._

_The real Alex smiled as she watched the exchange. She remembered this day well. She even remembered most of her thoughts of that day. As she watched her younger self smirking in a very satisfied way, she knew she was thinking she had Luke beat._

_"Don't tell her," Luke said in a scared voice._

_"I won't tell her if you stay and meet the new servants."_

_"I thought there was just one."_

_"No, he had an older guy with him," she shrugged, "Must be his grandfather or something."_

_Luke nodded, and one of the doors to the courtyard opened. Ramdas stepped outside, with Pere and a ten year old Guy in tow, staring at his feet as he walked. Alex noticed that Guy looked thoroughly unhappy with the situation, and she knew why._

_"Young Master Luke, Young Miss Alexandra," Ramdas said, Guy's head shot up at the mention of Alex's name and his eyes widened in shock. Pere was also looking at her, though he was better at concealing his shock. Ramdas continued, "This is Pere, he is the new gardener, and this is Guy, who will be an attendant to the two of you."_

_Guy hadn't taken his eyes off of Alex, who was beginning to blush again at his intense gaze, Luke seemed to be more annoyed than anything else._

_He scoffed, "Seriously? This is the cute-"_

_He was cut off before he could finish the sentence. Alex had pounced on him, causing them both to fall to the ground._

_"Ow! Hey-"_

_She covered his mouth with her hand, "Shut up, you idiot! Don't say that out loud!" she hissed._

_Luke glared at her and licked her hand, causing her to yelp in disgust and jump off of him._

_"Eugh! Gross!" she squealed, wiping her hand off on her light violet dress._

_"Then don't call me an idiot, you dreck!"_

_Alex glared at him; the two seemed to have forgotten there were others watching. Ramdas sighed and promptly apologized to the other two for what they were witnessing, Pere looked amused, and Guy looked confused._

_"There you go with that word again!" Alex cried, "What does it even mean?"_

_"I don't know," Luke admitted, glaring at her, "But it sounds like an insult, so I'm using it as one!"_

_Ramdas cleared his throat to get their attention. When Alex realized what had just happened, her face turned an extremely bright shade of red, and she tried to hide her face in shame. Luke looked like he couldn't have cared less._

_"Alright, I met them," he said, "I'm going to see Natalia now."_

_No one tried to stop him as he left._

_Guy was still watching Alex, who was still trying to hide her face from them. Pere seemed to notice this._

_"Since Guy is going to be their personal servant, it may be a good idea to leave them alone to get to know each other?" Pere suggested to Ramdas. Guy looked away from Alex for the first time, looking at Pere with a worried expression on his face._

_Ramdas nodded, "Yes, I shall show you to your room in the meantime."_

_Guy looked desperately like he didn't want to be left alone with her, but Pere merely smiled at him and put a hand on his shoulder in support before following Ramdas back inside._

_Guy turned back to face Alex, to see she was no longer hiding her face. She slowly approached him and timidly held out her hand for him._

_"Um, so I'm Alex," she said shyly, smiling at him._

_Guy was taken by surprise, and stepped away from her outstretched hand._

_Alex watched him curiously, tilting her head at him, "Is something wrong?"_

_"I'm sorry," Guy said in a small voice, "It's nothing against you, I'm just afraid of girls..." he dropped his head, looking ashamed of his fear._

_Alex dropped her hand, "Really? Why?"_

_"I don't know, but Pere thinks it has something to do with the memory I lost of my family dying." He promptly covered his mouth when he said that._

_"Oh, I'm sorry," Alex replied, looking at him sadly, "If it makes you feel any better, I have a lost memory too."_

_"…Really?" Guy looked up at her._

_"Yeah, I can't remember the first four years of my life," she shrugged, the fully grown Alex felt her stomach clench, even though it was a dream, "Father says it's because I was beat up by a bunch of people."_

_Guy looked like he was trying hard not to look angry, "…Oh, I see…"_

_The door to the courtyard opened again and Pere and Ramdas emerged once more. Pere beckoned for Guy to follow them, and he turned back to Alex for a few seconds._

_"It was…nice to meet you, Miss-"_

_Alex shook her head at him, "Call me Alex," she whispered, so Ramdas wouldn't hear._

_Guy nodded and followed Pere and Ramdas back inside the manor, leaving Alex alone. She turned and walked to her room, retreating inside it._

_The full grown Alex felt a sudden tug on her hand; she looked down to see the young girl from her dream a while ago. She knew who the young girl was this time though. Isabell._

_Isabell pulled on Alex's hand once more, and Alex figured that she wanted her to follow. As she followed her, the image dissolved around them and was replaced with a new one. This particular image made Alex sick to her stomach._

_They were in a dimly lit room; the only light coming from the fires that surrounded the carnage of the destroyed area. Alex didn't have to think about it to realize that it was the aftermath of the Hod War._

_Bodies were strewn all over the floor, and Isabell led Alex the corner of the room, where two people lay. Isabell didn't have to tell her who they were. The man had long hair, the same shade as Alex's; it was clearly her father. And her mother looked so much like Isabell did in the real world it was uncanny._

_Alex felt tears well up in her eyes as she looked at Isabell._

_Isabell looked back at her, tears falling down her face._

_"Why did you forget about us?"_

* * *

Alex woke with a start, her heart and mind both racing. She noticed the room was much brighter than it had been when she fell asleep, and when she looked out the window in her cabin, she noticed the sky outside was a bright blue and the sun had just risen. How long had she been asleep?

Alex moved into a sitting position on her bed, thinking about her dream. It had been happy in the beginning…in a way. Thinking about now though, it was almost painful to watch her younger self be so happy in the manor, so completely unaware of the truth. And now she understood why Guy had looked so surprised to see her, and so offended and bitter when she told him about her memory loss. And why wouldn't he be? She had no recollection of their time together on Hod, and the Duke had made up a story so he could better convince her that she was his daughter.

But that wasn't what stuck out the most for Alex. She had seen her parents' dead bodies. The aftermath of the war.

The question Isabell had asked replayed over and over in her head.

_'Why did you forget about us?'_

Alex put her face in her hands; she felt absolutely terrible. What kind of person forgets about their family?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"The door's open," Alex called, removing her hands from her face and placing them on her lap.

She had expected Guy to walk in, so she was slightly surprised to see Jade.

"You look well rested," he noted.

"What's up, Colonel?"

"You're a naughty girl, telling lies to us earlier."

"E-excuse me?!" Alex was taken aback, did he just seriously call her _naughty_?

"I'll repeat my question from earlier. Just what happened with Dist? I want the full story, Alex."

He left no room for argument, and Alex knew she wouldn't be able to lie her way out of this one.

"...Mohs ordered Dist to get replica data from me," she said, looking away from him, "Dist told me their plan was to kill me and make a replica so that it could infiltrate the group and kill all of you."

"I see, I had a feeling it would be something like that. May I ask why you chose not to tell us?"

"I don't know...I guess on some level I was worried you might get suspicious of me and think I was a replica. Thinking about it now, I guess it was stupid. I just didn't really want to talk about it."

"Alex, I thought you would be familiar after raising Luke that it would take a lot more than two days for a replica to have fully functional moter skills as well as a full understanding of our language. Furthermore, it's a long process to create a replica. No one would have been suspicious."

Alex didn't say anything.

"We'll be reaching Daath shortly. Everyone else is waiting for us to join them," he pushed his glasses up his nose as Alex stood up, "You look stressed, is something the matter?"

Alex shook her head and walked past him, "It's a long story, I don't want to talk about it."

"I see," he said as Alex placed her hand on the door handle, "Does this story perhaps begin on Hod?"

Alex froze, and her eyes widened in shock. She removed her hand from the door handle and slowly turned toward Jade, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"You already knew?…"

"It was only a mere hypothesis until now. I'd been wondering about your memory loss for a while. Why would a four year old girl, nobility or not, be wandering around unguarded in the streets of Baticul?"

Alex remained silent, she had her eyes fixed firmly on her feet.

"But that never told me you were from Hod," Jade continued when it became clear that Alex wasn't going to say anything, "It only made me more curious about your past. I remember you saying once that at one time Guy had convinced you to train under Pere. While I was doing some research, I came across an article that explained that the Sigmund style is passed down by word of mouth only to those from Hod. If you weren't from Hod, why would Pere teach you that technique? If it weren't for that article, I might not have figured it out, since your fighting style is slightly different from both the Albert and Sigmund techniques."

"…I wish I knew about that," Alex said, still avoiding Jade's eyes, "I feel like an idiot for not knowing, and the biggest jerk for forgetting."

"Understandable. Although you can hardly be blamed for your mind repressing a traumatic experience."

"Can I ask you a favor, Colonel?" Alex asked, finally looking up at him, "Could you not tell the others about this?"

"Oh? I wondered why you haven't spoken to Guy about this."

"I need to think the situation through on my own for a while. I'll tell everyone eventually. Only you and Luke know right now."

She turned to leave the room once more, but Jade stopped her again.

"One more thing," he said, causing Alex to turn her head back to him, "Garcia went out of her way to help you escape Baticul, despite the fact that she's our enemy. Do you have any relation to her?"

"Yes," Alex muttered, "She's my older sister."

She almost smiled when she saw the faint look of shock on his face.

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose again, "…I see. I don't mean to sound insensitive to your situation, but whether or not she is your sister, she is still our enemy."

"I know, Colonel, but you'll have to understand that if the others rush into battle with her, I won't want to join them."

"Of course," Jade replied, "Well then, shall we join the others?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh, and Alex?"

She sighed, "Yes?"

"I'll be telling the others about what happened with Dist. They have the right to know. It might be in your best interest to not lie about something so serious to us again."

They left the cabin and met up with the others, and Jade proceeded to tell them the full story of what happened with Dist. They looked disturbed by the news, and Jade later said that he wanted them all to stay together from that point on to prevent anything similar from happening again.

"So we need to hurry and get Ion then!" Anise said, "What if they plan to do something like that to him?"

"...I don't think we have to worry about that happening to him," Jade replied, "He's too important to them."

"Either way, we're going straight to the cathedral when we get to Daath!" Anise announced.

"But Alex needs a weapon," Luke said before turning to her, "And they took your capacity core too, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't think there were any capacity store shops in Daath."

"There aren't," Anise confirmed, "So we get Alex a sword and then we go get Ion."

* * *

"This time we need to make sure Mohs doesn't catch us," Luke said as the group approached Daath's cathedral. They had picked up a new sword for Alex along the way; simple, easy to use, and with a blue hilt.

"Mohs should still be in Baticul," Natalia informed him.

"Yes," agreed Jade, "But the God-Generals could still be here."

"Maybe if we ask my parents, we might find out about where the God-Generals are?" Anise suggested, her finger against her chin in thought.

"That's a good idea, Anise," Luke replied.

They entered the cathedral, and Alex instantly remembered how unnecessarily huge the building was. The last time she was there, they didn't have to make their way through the many endless hallways of the place, and as Anise led them through the building to her parents' room, she found herself hating the building more and more.

"Anise!" Oliver exclaimed as they entered the room, "We've heard you've been working hard on the job Ion's given you. We're so proud."

Anise didn't even look like she cared about the compliment, "Papa, Mama, do you know what those God-General fools are up to?"

"Now, now, Anise. That's not very polite," Pamela chastised.

"Boo…" Anise pouted, crossing her arms at her mother.

Oliver laughed, "Pouting won't get you anywhere, Anise."

Anise ignored his comment again, "Anyway, so what are the God-Generals doing?"

"Mohs, Largo, and Dist went to Baticul," Oliver replied, "And Sync was headed to the Radiation Gate."

"Legretta is currently inspecting Belkend," Pamela continued, "We haven't heard anything about what Garcia or Asch could be doing, but we did hear that Arietta will be returning from the Absorption Gate."

"So then the place is empty," Alex said, hardly believing their luck.

"Let's go get Ion while that's still the case," Tear added, already turning toward the door.

* * *

"Oh! You're all safe!" Ion exclaimed, smiling brightly as the group entered his room.

"Only because you sent Asch to help," Luke told him.

"No, Asch deserves the credit for acting so quickly, and Garcia does as well for joining him. What brings you back here?"

"We need your help, Ion!" Anise cried, giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

"Guy will explain," Jade said, smirking at him.

"Me again?…" Guy complained, scratching the back of his head, Alex couldn't help but chuckle at him.

Ion sat quietly and listened while Guy explained the situation to him, and finally spoke when he finished.

"So you need to measure the core's vibration frequency. The Sephiroth I know of are the Absorption Gate and the Radiation Gate. They already made me remove the Daathic seals from both."

"Those are the start and end points of the Planet Storm," Jade explained, "I doubt they'll be any good for measurement."

"Pamela said Sync and Arietta were sent to those places anyway," Luke added, "So what do we do now?"

"You don't know the location of any other Sephiroth?" Natalia asked hopefully.

Ion thought for a while, "I can't be certain, but there's something Legretta said onboard the Tartarus. 'With the bridge out, we'll have to leave the Tataroo Valley Sephiroth for later'."

"Should we go check it out then?" Guy asked.

"It's worth taking a look," Ion replied, "But if there is a Sephiroth there, I've yet to remove the Daathic seal. I'll have to come along."

They all left the Cathedral together. Thankfully, the fonic glyph to Ion's chambers and the lack of endless hallways made the trip a lot shorter, much to Alex's appreciation.

"Alex?" she turned her head to look at Ion, letting him know she was listening, "Is something wrong? You look like you've got something on your mind."

"No, I'm fine," she replied, smiling as brightly as she could at him, "I'm just a little tired, that's all."

Ion nodded at her, accepting her answer. Alex noticed Guy watching her from the corner of her eye, she tried to ignore it, and desperately hoped for a distraction.

And a distraction came when they were just outside the cathedral. Luke fell down to his knees, holding his head in pain. Alex instantly knew he was having another one of his headaches. The others formed a circle around him, and Tear knelt to the ground beside him, placing a hand on his back in attempts to soothe him. Alex could tell he was having a silent conversation with somebody in his head - probably Asch - just by the look of pained concentration on his face.

Luke slowly stood up, Tear standing up with him, and turned to the rest of the group.

"Spinoza leaked the information to Mohs. Hencken and Cathy have fled to Sheridan."

"Damn," Jade hissed, shocking everyone by the look of anger on his face, "I'm responsible for this."

"It's not your fault," Guy told him.

"I was careless to have allowed Spinoza to eavesdrop. We should head to Sheridan."

Guy sighed, "If the God-Generals know about our plan, we should get away from here."

They all agreed silently and ran to the entrance of Daath, hoping their luck wouldn't run out.

Unfortunately for them, it did. Pamela stood there, waiting for them.

"Oh, Anise, there you are!" she called when she saw them, "You were wondering where Arietta was, so I went ahead and told her you were here."

"Mama, are you nuts?" Anise groaned, pulling her pigtails in frustration.

Before Pamela could respond, Arietta entered the scene, clutching her doll tightly to her chest. Two giant ligers entered the city after her.

This was the first time Alex had seen Arietta, and she hadn't expected her to be so small after what the others had said about her. She knew though that size wasn't everything from her time with Anise, so she could tell this experience was going to be an eye opener.

"I've finally found you, murderers!"


	25. Sealed Memories

_Chapter 25: Sealed Memories_

"I've finally found you, murderers!"

"Murderers?" Alex asked, looking shocked by the accusation.

"Apparently Luke, Tear, and Jade killed a liger that Arietta believed was her mother," Guy quickly explained to her.

Everything had been going so well, they were so close to getting out of Daath unnoticed. Guy wasn't completely surprised that their good luck had come to an end, but he was still frustrated that they hadn't managed to get out of Daath.

"Wait, Gloomietta, this isn't the place to start," Anise tried, moving in front of Ion to guard him from what was most likely going to be an attack from the two ligers Arietta had accompanying her.

"I hate you!" Arietta cried, hugging her doll close to her, "I'm going to avenge Mommy!"

The pink-haired girl looked at both of the ligers she had accompanying her before commanding them to attack. Guy sighed and drew his sword, he was hoping Arietta wouldn't want to battle in the middle of Daath. Everyone else reluctantly drew their weapons as well, Guy could tell they weren't comfortable fighting where innocent people could get hurt.

"Anise, make sure they don't get Ion!" Jade called over his shoulder as he held off one of the ligers with his spear, Guy ran to help him while Alex and Luke held off the other one. Tear and Natalia hung back, ready to start healing someone when it was necessary.

Anise followed Jade's orders and started to pull Ion away from the fight.

"I'm not giving Ion to you!" Arietta yelled at their retreating figures, and, as if sensing its master's anger, the liger Alex and Luke were trying to hold back leapt over their heads, startling them both and knocking them down in the process. Tear quickly went to see if they were alright, while the escaped liger cornered Anise and Ion and readied itself to attack.

"Fon Master, look out!" Pamela cried as the monster charged electricity in its mouth, aiming at Anise and Ion. As the liger let loose its electric beam, Pamela dove in front of the attack, and screamed in pain as it hit her.

Anise and Ion ran to her and fell to their knees at her side.

"Mama?" Anise asked, panic in her voice as she began to shake Pamela gently, trying to wake her up. Guy narrowed his eyes at the scene, something about it seemed so familiar…

Before he could even register what happened, Jade was no longer helping him hold off the other liger, instead he was holding Arietta back, his spear aimed at her throat.

"Now, call off your friends," he ordered.

Arietta looked like she was about to refuse his order, and Ion cut in.

"Arietta, you know you shouldn't involve Pamela."

Arietta looked at Ion for a moment before reluctantly calling back her monster friends, who retreated without a moment's hesitation, and Natalia quickly ran to Pamela and began to heal her.

"Ion…" Pamela breathed as the others approached her, Arietta had already left, "Are you hurt?…"

"I'm fine," he replied, smiling kindly at her, "Thank you."

"If I was able to protect you, then I have no regrets…"

Guy froze mid-step while he was approaching the others, and he suddenly knew why the scene was so familiar. Memories came flooding into his mind. Memories of the Hod War.

Memories of his sister's death.

_"If I was able to protect the heir to House Gardios, then I have no regrets…"_

"Guy? Are you alright?"

He opened his eyes - he didn't remember closing them - and realized he was on the ground, holding his head in his hands. He looked up and saw that Alex and Luke were looking at him with worried expressions; Guy noticed Jade was also watching him from the corner of his eye. The others were gathered around Pamela, making sure she was alright.

"Guy?" Alex asked again.

"…I… remember," he replied. Alex and Luke looked at each other, confusion and concern on their faces.

* * *

Guy had chosen not to go with the others to make sure Pamela was alright, although he was worried about her. Instead he waited for the others in the chapel, since he'd needed some time to think. Jade had accompanied him, and respected his need for quiet by not asking him any questions.

For the half hour the others were with Pamela, Guy sat, cross-legged, in the chapel, with Jade standing silently beside him. He thought about Mary, his sister, and her death. He finally understood why he had his phobia of women - why he always thought he'd never be able to have a family.

He heard the door to the chapel open behind him, and knew that the others had arrived. He didn't bother turning to greet them, but Jade turned to them and effectively ended the silence.

"How is Pamela?"

"She's okay now," Luke replied before turning to Guy, "What about you, Guy?"

Guy finally stood up and turned to them, "I'm fine. Sorry for startling you."

"What did you remember?" Alex asked.

Guy looked at her for a moment, "My memory of when my family died."

Nobody said anything, and everything was suddenly awkward, so Guy did the only thing he could think of, he described the memory.

He explained how his older sister had him hidden in a fireplace to avoid harm, how he had been forced to watch as the Kimlascan army entered his home and slaughtered everyone dear to him, how without thinking he had left his hiding place and ran to his sister, wanting to help. How the soldiers had tried to attack him, but Mary covered him and took the blow, the maids running to help protect him.

"My sister shielded me when I was about to be killed, and not just her… The maids protected me too. I was buried under their bodies, unconscious and covered in blood. When Pere rescued me, my memory was already gone," he concluded, not looking at the others.

"So," Jade said, "Your female phobia is the result of emotional scarring from that incident."

"How pathetic," Guy muttered darkly, staring at the ground, "They gave their lives to protect me, and I just remember them as 'scary'…"

"Don't beat yourself up like that," Luke told him, "You were just a kid, Guy. An army invaded your home and killed people right in front of you. Anyone would be scared."

"Luke's right," Natalia said, "And I made fun of that fear… I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too, Guy," Alex said, looking very uncomfortable with the conversation.

"I'm sorry," Anise said, her eyes on the ground.

"I must apologize as well," Tear added, "I'm truly sorry."

Guy was a little uncomfortable with all the apologies, "…Come on, I'd forgotten all about it. You all don't have anything to apologize for. Don't worry about it."

Nobody said anything for a few moments.

"Guy, how do you feel?" Jade asked suddenly, "All right to move?"

"Of course," he replied, wanting things to get back to normal between the group.

"Then let's get away from Daath. We're not in any shape to face the God-Generals again."

* * *

Upon reaching Sheridan, they headed directly to the meeting hall to get the frequency counter from Hencken and Cathy. When they arrived at the hall, they noticed that Tamara and Cathy were standing outside.

"Oh, it's you," Tamara said as she noticed them approaching.

"Did you hear?" Cathy asked, "Because of Spinoza, we-"

Luke held up a hand to silence her, "Yeah, we heard."

"I'm glad you're safe, Cathy," Guy smiled.

Cathy took what he said the wrong way, "Oh my, I'm flattered to have such a handsome young man worry about me," she said, blushing.

Guy's eyes widened, and he immediately tried to take back what he said, "Uh, no, that's not what I-"

"Honestly, Cathy," Tamara sighed, "I take my eyes off you for one minute and you're already charming the boys…"

"No, really," Guy protested again, "I didn't mean-"

"Guy!" Anise said, hands on her hips, "Do you really think you should be flirting right now?" Guy noticed her nod her head toward Alex as she spoke.

Guy sighed, "If you'd let me finish-"

"Alex!" Anise called, cutting him off and turning toward the redhead, "Are you okay with this?"

Guy rolled his eyes at Anise's words, expecting to hear a smart remark from Alex, so he was slightly surprised when she didn't respond at all; he turned his head to look at her when he noticed the silence.

She wasn't even paying attention. She just stood there, staring off into space, absentmindedly playing with her hair. She looked depressed about something. Guy couldn't help but wonder if it was about what he had explained in Daath.

"Alex?" Anise asked again, shaking her arm to get her attention.

Alex snapped her head in Anise's direction at the contact, looking surprised, "Hm? What is it?"

Anise looked at her concernedly, lost for words, "Uh…"

"Is everything alright?…" Guy asked her, she had been acting a bit out of it since Belkend. He could understand why it might have something to do with Dist, but she wasn't hiding anything anymore with that, so why would she still be acting that way?

Alex looked at him for a moment, then smiled brightly at him. The smile was obviously fake, it didn't reach her eyes.

"Y-yeah, everything's fine!" she said, before letting out a clearly fake laugh. The others looked at her, confused and concerned; Anise looked like she was worried Alex had lost her mind.

"Um, what are you two doing out here?" Tear asked Tamara and Cathy, seemingly uncomfortable with Alex's behaviour. Guy noticed from the corner of his eye that Alex went back to looking slightly depressed when the others turned their attention to the two older women.

"Ah, we're getting a little tired of the Class I vs. Class M rivalry…"

"Are you sure you're alright?" Guy asked Alex while the others listened to Cathy.

"I'm fine, Guy," she grumbled, not looking up at him.

"Look, if you're thinking about what I explained back in Daath-"

She still wasn't looking at him, "No, that's not… It's… Never mind. Can we please just drop it?" She sounded a little annoyed by his questions.

"Something's obviously bugging you. Are you still thinking about what happened with Dist?"

"That's not dropping it, Guy," she snapped, finally looking up at him.

"I don't want to drop it!" Guy retorted, "So I care about you and want to know why you're acting so weird, is that really such a bad thing?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself from saying them.

Alex's eyes widened at his words, and her mouth formed an 'o'. Her mouth started moving soundlessly as she tried to formulate a response.  
Jade cleared his throat, making the two of them jump a little bit. Guy had forgotten the others were there.

Anise looked like her birthday had come early, Jade looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself in his own Jade-like way, Tear and Ion looked shocked, Natalia was frowning slightly, and Luke was smirking while giving Guy the thumbs up.

"Perhaps you two could finish this conversation later?" Jade asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "We did come here for a reason."

"Right," Cathy said, "The frequency counter is ready, you can pick it up inside."

Alex wasted no time in in entering the building, and the others followed her. Guy didn't understand. Why was she acting so strange?

"Nice," Luke whispered, stopping Guy outside the door, still smirking at him. He closed the door with the two of them outside the building so the others wouldn't hear their conversation, "Real smooth. The look on your face after you said it was priceless."

"Shut up," Guy muttered, "Why is she so annoyed with me, anyway?"

"Probably because you keep asking her questions she doesn't want to answer," Luke shrugged, "Besides, she's got a lot on her mind."

Guy snapped his head in Luke's direction, "What?"

Luke froze and didn't say anything.

"You didn't tell her, did you?"

"Of course not!" Luke protested, his eyes wide, "I meant it looks like she's got a lot on her mind! I mean, I think she's pretty much gotten over what happened with Dist, but that sort of thing stays with you for a while, so… And it was our father who was responsible for the attack on Hod, I know she feels bad about that, and she probably still feels bad about teasing you about your phobia. "

"I told everyone not to worry about that," Guy told him, choosing to trust him.

"Telling us not to worry about something doesn't make us not worry about it. She's not gonna come out and say that's what's bugging her, she's too damn stubborn."

"Are you guys coming or not?" Anise called, opening the door for them, "I don't think you want to miss this, it's not every day you see old men acting like this."

Guy and Luke looked at each other curiously before entering the room, immediately noticing the rise in noise level.

"...It's because you're so cold-hearted that you wound up lowering your GPA!" Hencken was shouting at Iemon.

"Shut up!" Iemon shouted back, pointing at Hencken, "You're the one whose friend betrayed him! If you're going to whine, then get out!"

"Yeah," Aston agreed, "Yeah!"

Everyone watched as the three old men bickered back and forth, not noticing that anyone had even entered the building. Most of them looked annoyed at how they were acting, Luke and Guy were confused, and Alex was actually paying attention, but she looked the most annoyed out of everyone at the behaviour.

"Uh, hello?" Luke said, getting their attention.

"Hey," Aston said, finally noticing their arrival, "It's you!"

"I've finished the frequency counter!" Hencken announced, as if he hadn't just been fighting.

"With my help, I might add," Aston said proudly.

"All you did was lend me some tools," Hencken retorted.

"They're sure lively for their age…" Guy sighed, thinking he should find new people to idolize.

"I'll take the frequency counter," Jade said, approaching Hencken, who handed it to him.

"I've heard what you're trying to do," Iemon said as Hencken was handing the device to Jade, "You're going to apply the same frequency to the core to cancel the shaking, right?"

"It'll be hard to make a device that can stand the pressure of the core and produce enough of a vibration," Hencken explained.

"Let Sheridan's Class M handle that!" Aston announced happily, throwing his hands up in the air, "We'll build you something strong!"

"Only Belkend's Class I could make a calculation device capable of emitting vibrations in all directions," Hencken argued, crossing his arms.

"Are you scheming to get the one hundredth win first?" Iemon accused, even though his eyebrows were covering his eyes, Guy was sure he was glaring.

"Is this really the time to worry about that?" Natalia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Alex agreed, tapping her foot in annoyance, "Here's a wacky idea: Why don't you just, I dunno, work together?"

The three men looked appalled at her suggestion.

"She's right," Ion said, ignoring Alex's less-than-polite tone of voice, "Class I and Class M are unimportant at the moment. This project would be easy if you worked together."

"Show some maturity, would you?" Anise added.

They all remained silent for a moment.

"…We'll build the outer shell from a device to stop the core from shaking…" Iemon finally said.

"Leave the calculation device to us!" Hencken added.

"Well, then," Tear said, "We should head for the Tataroo Valley."

"We should resupply first, there are monsters in that valley," Guy said.

"All right," Jade said, "We'll split up for a bit then to do that, we should be safe in the city. But don't go too far."

Tear told them what they needed to get, and then they went their separate ways. Guy was told to pick up anything he could think of that they might need, and he wandered around the town looking for something.

After a few moments he came across a capacity core shop, and he remembered that Alex still didn't have a new one. He went into the store and bought one for her, getting a bit of string from another store on the same street and tying it to the capacity core as a necklace for her.

He'd give it to her later, whenever she cooled down and started talking to him and the others again.

* * *

"I didn't see anything like a Sephiroth the last time we were here," Luke said as the group entered Tataroo valley.

"It was at night," Tear told him, "We may have missed something."

"At night?" Anise said slyly, "In a place like this? Just the two of you?"

"Luke!" Natalia exclaimed, "You never told me you and Tear had that sort of relationship!"

Guy watched as Luke struggled to explain himself. Everyone had been bugging him about Alex lately, so he didn't feel bad about enjoying Luke's struggle to get Anise and Natalia off his back.

"W-wait a minute!" Luke stuttered, "What are you talking about? It wasn't like that. We got blown out of the manor in Baticul and-"

"The very idea is absurd," Tear said, cutting off Luke's explanation. Without saying anything else she turned away from the others and walked away.  
"…Now I'm mad," Luke grumbled as the others began to follow her.

"Damn, that was cold," Guy laughed as he caught up to Luke, "And now you know how it feels to be dissed."

"Shut up," Luke muttered, narrowing his eyes at Tear's back, "Besides, Alex never dissed you. Your conversation was interrupted."

"Oh really?" Guy asked, his eyes on Alex, who was ahead of everyone else, "Then why has she been avoiding me since Sheridan?"

Luke didn't answer him, and Guy noticed that Jade was smirking at them both.

"You look like you're having fun, Colonel," Guy muttered.

"More than you could ever imagine," he replied.

"I wouldn't take it too personally, Guy," Ion said, a sad smile on his face, "Alex hasn't just been avoiding you."

"Yeah," Anise agreed with a thoughtful look on her face, "She hasn't been talking to anybody lately."

"I've noticed she's lost some weight as well…" Ion added, "Has she been eating properly?" Guy took a closer look at Alex to notice he was right, she had lost a bit of weight over the past few days.

"No, I don't think so," Anise replied, "And Natalia and Luke haven't cooked in a while, so she hasn't really had an excuse not to eat…"  
"Well!" Natalia exclaimed, she slowed down her pace so she could join the conversation.

"She has been acting strange lately, hasn't she?" she asked, placing a finger on her chin in thought, "Her behaviour is starting to get rather worrisome."

"I agree," Tear stated, slowing down as well, "And none of you know what's making her act this way?"

They all shook their heads, and started watching Alex, who was still walking ahead of them. Guy wondered how she wasn't able to hear their conversation. She was probably off in her own world again.

Suddenly Anise stopped in her tracks and let out a loud gasp, getting everyone's attention. Even Alex stopped and turned around to see what Anise was gasping about.

"Look!" Anise shouted gleefully, pointing at a shining blue butterfly a few meters away, "That's a legendary blue gorgonhod swallow tail! They're worth four million gald apiece!"

She started to happily chase the bird, and the others watched nervously as she got closer to the edge of a cliff.

"Anise, be careful!" Alex called, no longer looking depressed, but worried about how close Anise was getting to the cliff.

"Yeah," Guy agreed, approaching her, "You're going to trip."

"Please," Anise called back to them, her hands on her hips, "Stop treating me like a child!"

At that moment the ground began to shake violently, causing most of the group to topple over and Anise to slip, nearly falling off the cliff. She grabbed onto a patch of grass to prevent herself from falling to her death.

"Anise!"

"Help!" she cried.

Tear was the first to jump into action, running towards where Anise was falling and grabbing her hand before Anise fell. She wasn't strong enough to pull Anise back up to safety however.

Guy didn't think before acting, he was the closest to them, and they needed help. He ran over to them and reached out his hand, hesitating slightly before grabbing hold of Anise's arm.

"Guy?" Tear asked incredulously.

Guy closed his eyes, trying to block out the memories of Mary's bloodied body, and he pulled Anise up and away from the cliff's edge.  
He could hear the others approaching behind him.

"Tear, Guy," Anise said, "Thanks."

"I didn't really…" Tear murmured, struggling to find words, "But, Guy, you…"

"I wasn't scared…" Guy muttered, looking up at the others, hardly believing what had just happened.

"Congratulations, Guy!" Mieu squealed happily, flapping his enormous ears to hover a few feet above the ground.

"That's great!" Luke exclaimed, smiling brightly at him.

"I'm proud of you," Natalia added, "Even with your past, if you hadn't saved Anise just then, I'd have lost all respect for you."

"…Yeah," Guy said, standing up and facing Anise, "I'm really glad you weren't hurt because of me, Anise."

Anise giggled, "I'm a little moved."

"Guy was a Malkuth aristocrat," Jade told her, "He probably has a fortune set aside in the imperial treasury."

Anise's smile brightened even more, and Guy was really beginning to wonder why Jade hated him.

"Guy," Anise giggled and batted her eyelashes, "You can propose to me anytime."

"…I think I'll pass," Guy said, backing away from her slightly.

He heard more footsteps approach him from behind and he turned around. Alex stood there, staring at the ground and nervously playing with her hands.

"I'm happy for you too," she said quietly, "And, um… About what you said earlier…" Even though her hair was covering most of her face, Guy could tell she was blushing,

"I…care…about you too."

Guy smiled, he didn't even care that the others were watching.

"Does this mean you're going to tell me what's been bothering you?" he asked hopefully, although he already knew the answer.

Alex let out a small, quiet laugh, it made Guy feel better when he realized it wasn't fake.

"No, I don't think so," she shook her head, "Not now anyway." She turned on her heel and began to walk away, "We're still searching for that Sephiroth, right?"

Guy smiled as he watched her retreating figure, he may not have known why she had been acting so strange recently, but at least she was starting to get back to normal.

…

Alex felt really bad about lying to the others, especially Guy after he had told her he cared about her. She knew how distant she was being was getting on their nerves, but she couldn't help trying to avoid conversation with them. She was worried about accidentally blurting out that she was from Hod. That wouldn't exactly go over well.  
She had to stop ignoring everything around her though when Guy had helped Anise up away from that cliff. She was happy for him, she had known that his phobia had bothered him more than he let on. He still had a long way to go though before he completely got over it.

It didn't take them much longer to find where the Sephiroth was located, but the mist was so thick there it was hard for them to see where the door was.

"Hey," Luke said, squinting into the mist, "I think there's something there. Is it a monster?"

Mieu hopped forward and starting shouting in his language to check if it was. What they got in response was a loud a loud neighing from just a few feet away.

"That cry..." Jade said thoughtfully.

"It's a uniceros!" Anise shouted happily.

"The sacred animal that appears in Ancient Ispanian myth?" Ion asked.

"Yeah!" anise replied eagerly, "A legendary uniceros! If we catch it, we could get at least fifty-million Gald easy!"

"Uniceros like clean air, " Jade informed her, the smile on her face immediately disappeared, "If you take one to a city, it may die."

"He sounds like he's suffering..." Mieu said quietly, his ears drooping.

"Suffering?" Guy asked him, "Why?"

Suddenly, the mist before them started to clear away, and once it was gone, they saw that there was no uniceros where the mist had been.

"Where did it go?" Alex asked.

"Hold on," Tear said, "Something's coming."

Just as soon as the words were out of her mouth, the creature appeared from behind them and charged. They noticed just in time to get out of the way, Luke having to dive to the left to leave its path in time.

He dusted himself off as he got up, and the winged beast turned around and reared, letting out another loud cry. Guy didn't understand, they were supposed to be peaceful, weren't they?

"Are uniceros usually this violent?" Luke asked the others as the beast prepared to attack, its head pointed directly at Tear, its long, golden horn shining in the sunlight. It pawed at the ground intimidatingly, its bright green, feathery wings beating and its long tail flowing behind it. It really was a majestic creature, and that made it more surprising for it to be behaving so dangerously.

"Not at all," Anise replied, awestruck as she ran to guard Ion, "They're supposedly really gentle. They never attack people!"

The uniceros reared its head again, and the others reluctantly pulled out their weapons. Guy really didn't want to have to fight it - it had to have a reason for acting this way.

"Let's knock it unconscious and take a look at it!" Tear said.

The others nodded and the battle started.

Alex, Guy, and Luke couldn't exactly do much but try and protect the casters of the group since they weren't aiming to kill the uniceros. It was a little hard for them to defend themselves though because they were worried about hurting it too much with their swords. With Guy's fighting style though, he could at least attack with his sheath, and Luke and Alex had both decided to use their sheathes as well, since they weren't doing anything with their swords.

It was still difficult for them to protect the casters though, since the uniceros had the ability to easily fly over their heads to attack. Curiously, the only person it had any interest in attacking was Tear, the others it didn't seem to care about at all.

_"O violent torrent. Splash!"_

The water came down on it too fast for it to avoid, with its wings and body now soaked, it could no longer fly. It would also be slowed down considerably by the added weight of the water. It cried out in fury and charged again.

Anise was on the front lines with the three sword users to better protect Tear, who couldn't get any casting done due to the uniceros charging at her constantly. She'd had one close call when the beast charged at her the first time, slicing her arm with its horn as she tried to get out of the way. Natalia had healed her promptly, and then set to casting barrier on her.

Anise swung Tokunaga's arm at it, resulting in a large tear in the doll's fist when it connected with the horn. At the same time though, the impact seemed to have done some damage on the uniceros, as it was swaying on the spot. Tear summoned a Pow Hammer and a giant red and yellow hammer fell from the sky and landed on its head, knocking it out.

Everyone except for Jade, Natalia, and Ion, who were able to stay in pretty much the same spot for the entire battle, was gasping for breath. There was way too much running around in that battle. At least nobody really got hurt though

"I'll heal its wounds," Tear announced as she approached it. She knelt down beside it and started up a healing arte, white light was escaping through her hands and rushing like a wave over the uniceros' body. Guy, Alex, Luke, and Anise all stood by, ready for it to attack again.

"Let's have Mieu talk to it when it wakes up," Luke said, watching it carefully.

The uniceros slowly got back up onto its four legs,and as expected prepared to attack again. Mieu approached it like he did before and began to speak in his cheagle language, which thankfully seemed to calm the uniceros down.

"It's always amusing to see monsters talk like this," Jade commented. They all ignored him.

"He says he doesn't like the miasma," Mieu explained when he turned back to the group, "Some got close to him so he got irritated and attacked without thinking."

"But there's no miasma around here..." Luke said, looking as confused as Alex felt at the moment.

"He says Tear has miasma inside her body."

Shock was written all over Tear's face when the words were out of his mouth.

"Do you know what he means?" Jade asked, turning toward her.

"...No," she replied, turning away from him. She looked like she she suddenly understood something though.

"I don't get it," Guy said, "Maybe it has to do with Tear being born in the Qliphoth?"

Nobody could think of anything to say in response.

When the uniceros left after thanking Tear, they entered the Sephiroth. The use of the passage ring was relatively the same as the last couple times, only this time they had to use the measuring device they had received from Hencken. That part was surprisingly quick; all Guy had to do was touch the device to the giant fonstone in the middle of the platform for a few seconds.

Once they had received the measurements, Jade suggested that they simply get the Tataroo Valley Sephiroth ready to be lowered, rather than lowering it then and there. Since the passage rings were connected, they could lower the lands all at once, rather than at different times, which would have caused plenty of fissures in the land.

Once Luke had the passage ring ready to be lowered, they left the Sephiroth. On the way out of the valley, they came across a bed of beautiful flowers. Alex stopped to look at them for a moment, remembering all the times she had watched Pere tending the flowers at the manor. This of course only reminded her of the fact that she had grown up there not really being a Fabre.

"Alex?" Anise asked as the others noticed she stopped walking, "Is something wrong?"

Alex shook her head, "No, sorry. It's just really pretty here..."

No one said anything for a few moments.

"How about we rest for a bit?" Luke suggested, "I'm still kinda tired from that battle with the uniceros."

Tear sighed, "Yes, alright. I suppose there's no harm in that."

"Just for a few moments," Jade said, "Noelle's standing by on the Albiore, let's not make her wait any longer than necessary."

Everyone nodded and they dispersed, and Alex went to one of the corners of the flower patch and sat down, leaning against a rock. She was in a place where she could both see the flowers and the sea, and watch the others.

Tear and Luke were talking with Ion and Natalia, and just a few feet away Anise was pestering Guy about how since he was getting over his phobia and he had money, she was willing to become his bride. Alex couldn't help but laugh at how uncomfortable Guy looked with her advances.

"It appears you have competition," Jade said, coming up from behind her, startling her into shooting her head up in his direction. He was standing above her, watching the others. She didn't respond.

"You know," he said, his hands in his uniform pockets, "If you want to keep your past a secret for much longer, you should consider being less obvious."

"Not all of us can lie nearly as convincingly as you can, Colonel," she mumbled.

"Well, of course. But it seems that everyone, including Luke even, can lie more convincingly than you can. It doesn't take that much effort. It's mostly your behaviour that's concerning the others."

Alex laughed darkly, "Maybe you'll have to teach me how to lie one day then."

"I'm afraid not. I hate teaching, you see. I don't take on apprentices, I don't impart knowledge."

"Fine. Then I'll just have to find a way to steal it from you."

Jade let out a single chuckle before walking away, leaving Alex alone with her thoughts once more.

He was right, she was acting too obvious. But wouldn't the others just be more confused if she just turned around and started asking like nothing had ever happened? They'd know she was faking it; she was no actress, that was for sure.

"Here."

She looked up and saw Guy standing before her, holding out a plate with a small piece of cake on it.

"Thanks..." she said, taking it from him, "Where did...?"

"Tear made it in Sheridan apparently. She said Tamara gave her the recipe. It's pretty good, and you don't look like you've been eating properly lately."

She nodded and took a bite as he sat down beside her, it was pretty tasty. "So you got away from Anise then?"

Guy laughed, "Yeah. With some help from Ion."

Guy seemed to understand that Alex didn't want to talk about what was bugging her, and she was thankful for that. She looked up from her cake and noticed that once again Tear was giving Luke the silent treatment.

"What did he do this time?" she asked Guy.

"He made a big deal about how surprising it was that Tear baked a cake."

"...Moron."

Guy laughed, "Yeah, he's not exactly the brightest is he?"

"Yeah..." there was a pregnant pause between them, and Alex had to think of something to say, "Sheridan has a capacity core shop, right? I still need to get a new one."

"Oh, yeah that's right," Guy said, suddenly pulling something out of his pocket. It was a shiny new capcity core hanging from some blue string.

Alex's eyes widened a little as he handed it to her, "You didn't have to-"

"Don't worry about it."

She tied it around her neck, "Thank you. I appreciate it."

"No problem."

They sat in silence for a few moments until-

"I think we've rested enough," Jade announced, "Noelle's waiting for us, and I'm a little uncomfortable leaving her alone for so long. We should head back."

* * *

It was late afternoon the next day by the time they got back to Sheridan, and for once, nobody was questioning Alex about her tired state. When they entered the meeting hall they were greeted by Class I and Class M, who were surprisingly working together without any bickering.

"Good to see you back!" Iemon said, as the group joined them.

"Here are the measurements," Luke said tiredly as he handed the device to Tamara.

"We're currently modifying the Tartarus," she announced as she took the measurements from Luke.

"The Tartarus?" Jade asked, actually looking a little shocked.

"Even the fall into the Qliphoth couldn't break it," Cathy explained, "It's perfect for a trip into the core."

"The Tartarus is certainly proving itself useful," Jade shrugged.

"It will still take some time though," Iemon said, "Most likely a couple of days. You should relax in the meantime."

The group was grateful for the chance to relax, as they hadn't really had the chance to do so in a while. As they were leaving the meeting hall, however, Luke had an announcement to make.

"Can I talk to you all for a minute?" he asked, looking slightly nervous.

Guy wondered what it could be about, "What's up, Luke?"

"Is it really okay for us to just lower the land on our own?" he asked, continuing when the others looked confused, "It's a really big deal, it'll change the way the whole world works. I was thinking we should explain things to Uncle and Emperor Peony and work together."

Guy took a moment to marvel at how much Luke had changed since Akzeriuth.

"But we'd have to go to Baticul to do that…" Natalia said quietly, looking depressed.

"I think we should," Luke told her.

"Luke…" Natalia looked truly scared.

"They risked their lives for us…for you, Natalia. Now it's our turn to protect them. Let's persuade Uncle to salvage the peace treaty that fell apart. Shouldn't Kimlasca, Malkuth, and Daath work together to lower the Outer Lands?"

"Luke," Tear said, shock written on her face, "You're absolutely right."

"…Please let me think for a bit," Natalia said, "I know what you're saying is right. But…The fact remains that Father rejected me. I'm scared. I'm sorry." Without saying anything else, Natalia turned and left the others.

"We'll just have to wait until Natalia is ready," Jade said as the others watched her walk away. "We'll have to stay here tonight in the meantime. It's been a long day, everyone, get some rest."

* * *

**_A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss._**

**_On another note:_**

**_"Even with your past, if you hadn't saved Anise just then, I'd have lost all respect for you." - Natalia_**

**_Does this line piss anybody else off? I mean, everyone else, save for Tear, just stood there and watched as the person they knew had a phobia of WOMEN went to help. I just honestly don't think Natalia had any right to speak there when she didn't do anything to try and help. Rant over. You can go read that next chapter now..._**


	26. Hesitation and Confrontation

_Chapter 26: Hesitation and Confrontation_

After Luke suggested meeting with King Ingobert and Emperor Peony, everyone went their separate ways for the night, and Luke had decided to take a walk around Sheridan to think about recent events.

Almost everyone in the group seemed to have their own problems, so it was hard to focus entirely on the task at hand. It was pretty much impossible for Luke to think only about going to Baticul to get King Ingobert to salvage the peace treaty when he was worried about how Natalia would take it if Ingobert still rejected her. And of course when he thought of going to Baticul he thought about how Alex was going to act around the Duke if they saw him, not to mention the fact that he still felt like an impostor around Baticul.

Alex already had the others worrying about her constantly, if her behavior got any weirder she wouldn't be keeping her secret for much longer. Luke had already decided that if she kept distancing herself from the others like she had been, he would have to tell the others why she was doing it. He knew he had promised her he wouldn't tell anybody, but the way she was acting was downright unhealthy, and it was hard for everyone to watch. Especially Guy.

Whenever Guy tried getting closer to her, like he and Luke had talked about back in Belkend, she only distanced herself further. A blind person could tell that Guy was upset about it just by the tension in the air.

Whenever Luke witnessed an event that ended in Alex ignoring Guy, he found himself slowly getting more and more annoyed by her actions. After Guy realized why it was he had his female phobia, he was slowly starting to get over it (at least he was gradually getting less and less terrified every time Anise tried jumping him, a method she thought would help him get over his phobia faster). Every time Guy attempted to comfort Alex, because she was obviously depressed, she would snap at him and tell him to leave her alone. Luke understood that what she was going through was stressful for her, but she needed to let the others help her through it. Snapping at the others wasn't going to get her anywhere.

The only occasion recently where Alex hadn't ignored Guy, was when he had saved Anise from falling off that cliff. But even then all she did was congratulate Guy on his first step to getting over his phobia. She also mumbled something that nobody else heard that seemed to lift the blonde's spirits considerably, but she went back to distancing herself shortly afterward.

As Luke was reaching the inn, he heard voices. He didn't need to get any closer to realize who they belonged to. He turned around and started heading back the way he came, not wanting to interrupt Asch and Natalia's conversation. He didn't want to hear anymore secrets he'd have to keep. Not telling his best friend why Alex was avoiding him was hard enough.

Luke decided that he would have to make another loop around town in the opposite direction if he was going to get to the inn without disturbing Asch and Natalia.

As he was turning the corner of the meeting hall, he spotted Alex sitting on a bench by herself, playing with her hair again. She'd been doing that a lot lately. Luke had a feeling he knew why - her red hair and green eyes are what made it so believable for her to be a Fabre, and they were probably the reason she was taken in by the Duke in the first place. She most likely hated those features on herself now, and with good reason.

Luke slowly walked over to his sister - whether their bloodlines were different or not, he still believed her to be his sister - and sat down next to her on the bench. Neither of them said anything for a moment, and Luke wondered if she even noticed he sat down, she hadn't looked at him or stopped playing with her hair.

Luke sighed, deciding to break the silence, "So…"

"…So?" Alex eventually responded, placing both her hands in her lap.

Luke honestly didn't know where to go from there, he hadn't actually thought of anything to say to the broken shell of a girl that sat beside him.

"Luke?" Alex asked, looking at him, "I'm an idiot, aren't I?"

Again, Luke didn't really know what to say to that, "Well… Your obvious is definitely showing."

Alex sighed and looked down at her hands, "So that's a yes then… I don't know what to do, Luke. I've spent so much time avoiding the others, that I can't just start acting like everything's normal again. They'd only get more confused. I miss everyone."

Luke still didn't know what to say, and he was getting uncomfortable when Alex started shaking with silent tears. He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him to try and comfort her.

"I feel h-horrible about how I've been tr-treating Guy!" she continued, hiccuping because of her tears, "I know he's only t-trying to make me feel better, but for some re-reason I don't want him to. I d-don't get it, before any of this I would have been ha-happy if he was trying to make me feel better about something. I g-guess now every time he tries to cheer me up, the vo-voice in my head that reminds me he n-never told me the truth about my past overpowers all the others… He probably h-hates me after all the times I've told him to leave me alone!"

Luke sighed, "He doesn't hate you."

"But I'm being so _unreasonable_!" Alex replied, covering her face with her hands.

"He's more worried about you than the rest of us," Luke reasoned, "And we're all pretty worried about you. Jade keeps a straight face about it, but I think he's actually concerned."

"Jade already knows about me…" Alex told him. Somehow that information didn't surprise Luke, "He at least knows why I'm acting so weird."

"Speaking of your behavior," Luke said suddenly, "I think Guy's starting to figure out that you know," he felt Alex stiffen against him, "He already knows that I was eavesdropping that night in Belkend, and he asked me not to tell you anything. He said he wanted to tell you himself after all of this was over. But I think your behavior has made him think that I told you."

"Oh…" Alex sighed, drying her tear stained face, "I'm sorry you had to get dragged into this."

"It's alright," Luke replied, "You were there for me when I was depressed about being a replica. I'm just returning the favor. Besides, it's not my secret to tell."

"But d-don't you feel bad about lying to Guy? He's your best friend."

"I do feel pretty bad about that, yeah," Luke admitted, "But like I said, it's your business. Though part of me wants to tell him whenever you push him away."

She nodded, "I understand that… I…" she took a deep, shuddering breath, "I've been thinking about confronting the Duke about this whole thing when we go to Baticul," Luke felt a little strange when she addressed him as the Duke instead of 'Father', "But I'm torn between confronting him then and waiting, because Natalia has to confront the King too."

"You have the rest of the night to think about it," Luke said, standing up and pulling her up with him, "Jade told me we're going to Baticul first, once Natalia is ready, since we shouldn't talk to Emperor Peony until Kimlasca is on board, seeing as Kimlasca's less likely to agree at this point."

Alex nodded again, "Thank you, Luke, I feel better now. I promise I'll tell Guy I know by the time all this peace treaty stuff is over. I'm getting sick of isolating myself."

Luke smiled, "Glad I could help. Let's go to the inn to get some rest. It's been a long day, and we've got another one ahead of us tomorrow."

**…**

Alex woke up the next morning dreading the day ahead. They were going to Baticul.

She sat up in her bed and noticed she was shaking uncontrollably. Mentally cursing her nerves, she got up and crossed the room to the mirror, vaguely noting that Natalia, Tear, and Anise had already left the room.

She looked more pale than usual, making her red hair stand out even more. She hated her hair now. Even if it was the same shade as her true father's, now it only reminded her of the fact that she had forgotten all about her real family.

She had been losing weight too, she realized with a sigh as she placed her hand on her stomach. She hadn't been eating properly lately, though she'd been trying to. Every time she tried to eat something she couldn't hold it down.

She got dressed as quickly as she could, and then shakily ran a brush through her hair, which was getting more limp and lifeless as the days went by because of her unhealthy new habits.

When she was ready, she left the inn and went to meet the others outside the meeting hall. She tried her best to control her shaking and the butterflies in her stomach.

She was the last one to arrive, and Alex noticed how determined Natalia looked compared to how scared she was the night before. Seeing her like that somehow gave Alex new strength as she approached the others, and she found herself no longer shaking, although she was still nervous.

"Everyone's ready?" Jade asked as Alex reached the others.

"We're going to Baticul now, aren't we?" Ion asked.

"Yes," Natalia confirmed, "I will do what I can as princess of - no, as a citizen of Kimlasca."

"I hoped you'd say that," Jade said, "I wrote a letter to King Ingobert describing everything that's happened. As well as the problems with lowering the Outer Lands."

"Problems?" Anise asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

"The miasma," Tear told her.

"Oh yeah…" Guy sighed, "The whole reason the Outer Lands were made was to get away from that."

"We'll need more that the cooperation of Sheridan to solve this problem," Jade explained, "We'll need Grand Chokmah's fonic researchers and Yulia City. But in order to get them…"

"We have to get Kimlasca and Malkuth to agree to peace," Luke nodded.

"Let's go to Baticul," Natalia announced, "I'll convince Father, no matter what."

* * *

It took only a couple hours to get to Baticul on the Albiore, and all the soldiers were beyond shocked at Natalia and Luke's appearance. The only reason they weren't attacked was because Ion had informed the soldiers that they were under the protection of Daath, and the Score would no longer be read for Kimlasca if anyone was harmed.

Alex felt extremely nervous about being back in Baticul. The last time she was there she had no idea about her past. She noticed Guy keeping an eye on her as they made their way to the castle, so she tried her best to keep her cool, but she couldn't help but be a little jumpy when the others addressed her.

They used Ion's title as Fon Master to get into King Ingobert's room. He looked shocked at everyone's sudden appearance.

"Natalia?" he gasped as they entered his room.

"Wh-where are the guards?" Alpine demanded.

"There's no need for guards!" Luke retorted, turning to address Ingobert, "Natalia _is_ your daughter!"

"M-my daughter died years ago…" Ingobert replied sadly, as though he didn't want to believe it.

"No!" Luke replied stubbornly, "The Natalia here before you _is _your daughter. Seventeen years of memories should prove that! So someone told you she's not your real daughter, so what? That doesn't change your memories! The memories you two share as a family belong to you alone."

Those words had Alex thinking. Sixteen years of memories should have proved that the Duke was Alex's father by that logic. But it wasn't the same. Ingobert wasn't responsible for Natalia's parents' deaths. Alex could never forgive the Duke for what he had done.

"I know that," Ingobert said slowly.

"Well, then…!" Luke said expectantly.

"It's alright, Luke," Natalia said, holding up a hand to silence him before turning to Ingobert, "Father… Your Majesty. You may call me a criminal if you wish. But, please, stop this war with Malkuth!"

"I won't ask why you sent emissaries to Akzeriuth," Ion said, looking uncharacteristically stern, "I don't even want to know. But His Majesty Peony the Ninth trusted in me as an emissary of peace. I do not intend to lose that trust for your sake."

"Excuse me, Your Majesty," Jade said, "A monarch need not suffer these youthful tirades. May I suggest we come back at a later date to hear Your Majesty's feelings?"

Everyone in the group turned to look at Jade, most of them looking affronted by his suggestion.

"What if they hide troops to ambush us?" Guy asked.

"Ion's already informed his soldiers of what will happen," Jade replied, not taking his eyes off of Ingobert, "We all know what Daath's response would be were the Fon Master to die. And the people of this city will turn against his Majesty, just as before."

"…Are you threatening me?" Ingobert said, looking angry and appalled.

"Did you think I would enter a situation like this without taking certain precautions?" Jade replied, looking amused at Ingobert's response. He then approached him and knelt before him, which was bizarre for Alex to watch.

"I've written a document detailing the crisis facing the world," Jade said, presenting Ingobert with the letter.

"I will read it," Ingobert replied while Alpine took the letter, "And see you in my audience chamber tomorrow."

The group excused themselves and left the castle before Ingobert could change his mind. As they were walking past the manor, Alex couldn't help but stare at it.

"Want to drop by?" Guy asked her suddenly, causing her to jump. She hadn't known he was so close by.

Alex didn't answer, she was too busy holding her chest and trying to get her heart rate back to normal.

"Sorry," he said, failing to hold back a smile, "Did I startle you?"

"Little bit," Alex replied, catching her breath, "The table's definitely turned…"

She heard a chuckle coming from behind her and turned to see Jade and the others.

"_Damn, cynical bastard," _she thought, _"He _would_ be getting a kick out of this."_

The others also seemed amused by what had just occurred.

"It's not every day you see Guy scare a _girl_," Anise said with a smirk, Natalia and Tear nodded behind her.

"Indeed," Jade agreed, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"What 'precautions' did you take anyway?" Alex asked Jade in order to change the subject.

"Hmm?" he replied, "Oh, that. I was just bluffing."

Luke cleared his throat, "Anyway… I don't think we should visit the manor right now, Guy," he said, quicky glancing at Alex, "Father is on Uncle's side. Let's stay at the inn in the city tonight."

* * *

They went back to the castle for their audience the next day, expecting just King Ingobert and Alpine as well as a few guards to be there. However, to their disliking, Mohs had decided to make an appearance, along with Goldberg and the Duke.

"Alexandra," the Duke said sternly as the group entered the audience hall, "Do you have any idea how worried we were? Your mother has become more frail from worrying for you."

Alex tried her best not to glare at him, though she was failing. She knew the others were watching, she couldn't confront him now. She did feel bad about Suzanne getting more sick because of her, but she doubted the Duke was actually that worried about her, the maids were likely to be more worried.

"I apologize…Father," Alex said, trying not to make her words sound too bitter.

"I read your documents," Ingobert said, bringing everyone's attention to him. Alex's eyes continued to rest on the Duke in a glare, though he didn't notice because he was watching Ingobert. She failed to notice the pair of blue eyes watching her curiously.

"Your proposal seems to contradict the Score of the Sixth Fonstone," Ingobert continued.

"The Score is no longer useful," Luke informed him, "It started to go wrong when I was born."

"…Replicas," Ingobert said, more to himself than the others.

"Father, clinging to the Score will no longer bring prosperity!" Natalia said, "This is the moment the world's leaders will truly be put to the test. We nobles exist precisely for times like this! The royal family does not exist to live in luxury, dependent upon the Score."

King Ingobert remained quiet for a few moments, thinking about Natalia's words.

"…What would you have me do?"

"Sign a peace treaty with Malkuth and allow us to lower the Outer Lands into the Qliphoth," Luke answered for Natalia.

"Unthinkable!" Alpine retorted, "The Malkuth Empire is our sworn enemy! Only a traitor would suggest such a thing!"

"Do not let them deceive you, Your Majesty," Mohs sneered, "They've likely been bought by Malkuth. These are merely the ramblings of ignoble impostors…"

"Silence," Ion told him, "Only a fool clings solely to lineage."

"No one is born a princess," Jade said, "Only through diligence does one achieve the grace and dignity required of that title."

"I know not whether I possess the grace of which Jade speaks," Natalia admitted, "But you raised me for seventeen years. It is with great pride in that time that I say this now. Make peace and lower the land. I ask this out of love for this country. And for you, Father."

Again, Ingobert took a moment to think about Natalia's words.

"…Very well," he finally replied.

The words were barely out of his mouth before Mohs and Alpine were protesting.

"No, Your Majesty!" Mohs shouted.

"Don't listen to the babblings of these-"

"Silence!" Ingobert shouted at them, "Do not insult my daughter's words!"

Natalia looked both shocked and pleased to hear him call her his daughter. Tears welled up in her eyes as she ran to embrace him.

"Natalia," he said as he held her, "You have awakened the love and concern for this kingdom that I had forgotten."

"Father," Natalia cried, "It hurt not to be the princess. But what hurt so much more was not being your daughter."

"While you do not share my blood, I will never forget our time together."

While Alex watched the scene before her, she decided she would wait to confront the Duke. She didn't want to ruin the moment for the Natalia. She would wait until after the peace treaty.

* * *

"So Kimlasca is finally ready to talk."

The group had left Baticul immediately after the audience with Ingobert had finished, they had no time to waste before going to Grand Chokmah.

It was late afternoon by the time they arrived, and they headed straight to the palace. It was because of the fact that Jade was Emperor Peony's best friend that they were able to get an audience so quickly.

"I ask you on behalf of the kingdom of Kimlasca Lanvaldear," Natalia started, having obtained a whole new level of determination after Ingobert had finally accepted her, "Forgive our aggression and consider again a peace treaty between-"

"Hold on," Peony interrupted, holding up a hand to stop her, "Aren't you forgetting your position?" Natalia looked confused by his question, so he continued, "Saying it like that will mean Kimlasca has bowed down before Malkuth… And shame on you for not stopping her, Jade," he added, turning to Jade, who shrugged.

"Was it that obvious?" he asked with fake innocence.

Peony sighed before turning back Natalia, "Let's just say it's…talks to end the battle of Rugnica Plains. Where should we hold them?"

"How about Yulia City?" Luke asked, turning to look at Tear.

"But that's in the Qliphoth," Tear reminded him, slightly shocked at the suggestion, "Are you sure?"

"Actually," Luke said with a thoughtful look on his face, "They should probably learn what the Qliphoth is like. That's where the Outer Lands are going to be when we lower them."

"True," Jade answered for Tear, "Well then, if it pleases Your Majesty, we'd like you to travel to the Qliphoth."

"Anywhere is better than when I was locked up in Keterburg," Peony replied with a shrug, "I'm there."

"We're going to need the flightstone," Luke said, "And Dist has it."

"We'll need to ask Tritheim in Daath where Dist is," Ion informed him.

"Mohs is probably back by now," Guy said, "We'll need to be careful."

"Why the hell does Dist have the flightstone?" Luke groaned, "What a pain."

"He has a freakish obsession with fontech and fon machines," Jade whispered, "Just like Guy."

"Excuse me?" Guy asked, his eyes wide, appalled at being compared to Dist.

"Luke!" Jade said, pretending to look affronted, "It's not nice to compare Guy to dist."

Alex actually found herself giggling for what seemed like the first time in years. The sound seemed to shock Guy, as well as the others, and he actually smiled, not seeming to care about what Jade had just said.

"I'm sure it's been a long day for you all," Peony said, bringing everyone's attention back to him, "How about you stay here in Grand Chokmah for the night? You can go to Daath tomorrow. I'll get you each a room in the hotel, get some well-deserved rest."

Everyone thanked him and left the palace. They were all exhausted after the long day, so they went straight to the hotel. Alex had already reverted back into her quiet state.

…

They had been in the hotel in Grand Chokmah for a couple hours now, and Guy was getting seriously worried about Alex's behavior. She had been acting so much stranger when they were in Baticul. There could only be one explanation for that - she had to know. Why else would she have been so…_cold_ toward the Duke during the audience in Baticul? She was glaring at him the whole time, and she'd even hesitated when calling him Father.

Guy couldn't think of any other reason for why she'd be acting this way, Luke had to have told her.

He had decided to ask Luke one last time if he had told her, to give him the chance to tell the truth, and even if he lied again he would go straight to Alex's room and confront her about it. Even if she didn't know, and she was acting strange for a different reason, he had had it with her avoiding him, he wanted her to start acting normal again. Not that she would ever truly be the same if she really had known the truth.

Guy reached Luke's room and knocked on the door, a small part of him feeling strange about not having to sneak in through the window, and Luke opened the door a few seconds later.

"Hey, Guy," he said, looking a little confused as the blonde marched past him into his room without bothering to greet him.

"Does she know?" Guy asked abruptly, turning to face Luke with his arms crossed.

"Wha-?" Luke spluttered, shocked at how serious Guy looked.

"Alex," Guy said, narrowing his eyes at Luke, "Does she know? Her behavior has been getting weirder and weirder since Belkend, and she's hardly even recognizable since we were in Baticul!" Guy paused and stepped closer to Luke, making eye contact with him, "I want you to answer me honestly, Luke," he said slowly, his face now only inches from Luke's, "Does she know?"

Luke stood completely still, he looked extremely anxious.

"Don't make me ask again, Luke," Guy said in a dangerously quiet voice.

Luke didn't respond for a few moments, then he slowly nodded his head.

Guy covered his face with his hands and groaned loudly while turning away from Luke.

"I asked you not to tell her!" he yelled as he began to pace around the room.

"I didn't!" Luke replied, watching him nervously, "I swear-"

"Then how does she know?" Guy retorted, stopping in his tracks and turning to face Luke again.

Luke sighed, "She was with me when I was eavesdropping on you and Van." He was still watching Guy anxiously, as if he expected him to explode.

"She was _with_ you?" Guy asked, running a hand through his hair, "So you knew that she knew when we were talking about this in Belkend, and you never thought to tell me?"

"She asked me not to say anything!" Luke yelled, no longer looking nervous, "So I didn't. And it's not like you have any room to be angry about not being told something. You had _ten_ years to tell Alex the truth and you never did! It was only a matter of time before she found out, it's your own fault you weren't the one to tell her!"

He was right, and Guy knew it, but he didn't want to admit it at the moment. He marched past Luke without another word and left his room.

"Where are you going?" Luke called after him.

"I'm going to talk to Alex," Guy yelled back, not turning back to face him. He silently thanked Luke for not following him as he approached the door to Alex's room and knocked, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the door to open.

"Guy?" she asked when she opened the door, "Is something wrong?"

She had to be kidding.

"Care to explain why you've been avoiding me?" Guy asked harshly as he entered her room. She flinched slightly at his tone, and he felt bad about that. He was letting his anger get the better of him, so he tried to calm himself down. Alex's response didn't help him.

"Avoiding you?" she asked innocently as she closed the door behind him, her back turned to him. He hated that she hadn't properly looked at him since Belkend, and he felt his temper start to rise again.

"Don't act all innocent," he said, "You _know_ what I mean. You've been avoiding me and acting strange all week! And you've been losing weight!" he added. It wasn't a compliment.

Alex remained quiet for a few moments, she still hadn't turned to face him, "…So?"

"So you haven't been eating!" Guy exclaimed, fisting his hair with both hands. "I hate seeing you like this!" He decided to give her another chance to tell him she knew before dragging Luke into it, "You're hiding something. Is there something you need to tell me?"

"I don't know, Guy!" Alex snapped, finally turning to look at him. Guy flinched at the intensity of the glare she was giving him, and he felt his stomach drop and his anger melt away completely when he saw she was crying, "How about _you_?" she asked hysterically, "Is there something _you've_ been hiding from _me_?"


	27. Oracle Headquarters Again

_Chapter 27: Oracle Headquarters Again_

"How about _you_? Is there something _you've _been hiding from _me_?"

For a few moments Alex and Guy stared at each other. Tears were streaming silently down her face, and Guy found himself at a loss for words. He figured he had to say something. The situation was already bad, whatever he said couldn't make it much worse.

He closed his eyes and sighed, "I know I should have told you a long time ago-"

"But you didn't," Alex stated simply, he opened his eyes to look at her again, "And for the life of me I can't understand why! I mean, you've only had about ten years. And we've only seen each other _every _day!"

"I'm sorry…"

"I just don't get it," her voice cracked, and she covered her face with her hands. Guy knew she was trying to hide her tears from him. He felt horrible seeing her like that, and he felt even worse that he couldn't properly comfort her.

Or could he?

He had saved Anise the other day in Tataroo Valley, maybe he _could_ comfort Alex. He hadn't completely gotten over his phobia yet, but it was clear to him that Alex desperately needed comforting. She needed his help, just like Anise did the other day, and he wasn't going to let his phobia get in the way of him doing what he needed to do to help her.

He took a deep breath and slowly closed the distance between them, tentatively wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to his chest, surprising himself with how easy it was to do it.

Alex froze against him, "G-Guy?" she managed through her tears.

Her voice made him stiffen a little, as if his body had just become aware of the fact that he was holding a girl in his arms. He reminded himself that she needed him and his body relaxed again.

He rested his head on top of hers, distracting himself for a moment with how soft her hair was, and how nice it smelled. The scent was strangely calming, and he forgot completely about his phobia for the few moments they stayed like that.

"Guy?" Alex asked again, she placed both hands on his shoulders and gently pushed herself away from him, her eyes steadily on his, "What are you doing?"

"You looked like you needed a hug," Guy replied with a small, sad smile, allowing her to pull away. He frowned as he looked at her teary face, "I'm sorry I never told you the truth."

A fresh wave of tears came and she lowered her eyes, "I've been living a lie for sixteen years and you knew it," she said in a small voice, "Why didn't you tell me?"

He knew he had to tell her, she had the right to know.

"After I first saw you at the manor I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid you wouldn't believe me. So I waited," he paused to wipe her tears away, he rested his hand on her cheek and pulled her face up so she was looking him in the eyes, "The years went by and you became more important to me. I was scared of what you would think; I was scared of losing you. I know it's not an excuse and I should have told you. I'm sorry."

She squeezed her eyes shut, and more tears fell. She began to shake and, in a sudden movement that caught him off guard, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his middle and pressing her face into his chest.

He briefly remembered the last time she had lunged at him like that. It had happened in the same hotel. It was right after they had gotten over their fight, after Guy's curse slot was removed. She was crying then too. His phobia had prevented him from trying to make her feel better last time. But so much had changed since then, and unlike the last time, Guy was going to do his best to comfort her.

She was sobbing loudly now, and the sound broke his heart. He wrapped his arms around her again, one hand cupping the back of her head. It felt nice, but it saddened him that she had to be so torn up for him to push his phobia out of his mind so he could hold her.

They stayed like that for what felt like hours. If somebody had been watching, they would have never guessed that Guy had a phobia of women.

It was now well past midnight, and Alex's crying finally began to die down. After her tears had fully stopped, she pulled away from him again.

"Thank you," she said as she wiped her tears away, "Is… Is there anything else I don't know?"

At first Guy didn't want to answer, she had just stopped crying. But he didn't want to lie to her anymore.

"Yes, actually," he said, watching her carefully, "There is one more thing."

She looked scared at the thought of learning something else.

"The God-General, Garcia," he started, slightly surprised when he saw relief wash over her face.

"I already know she's my sister," she said, "She told me when we were in Belkend. That's everything? You're not keeping anymore secrets?"

Guy shook his head, happy she had already known that. He didn't even question when Garcia would have told her, he was just happy she knew so she wouldn't start crying again, "No, that's everything."

"Good," she sighed as she sat down on her bed, "I don't know if I could handle anymore."

Guy sat down next to her, "I really am sorry," he said, "I was planning on telling you after the land was lowered. I never wanted you to find out that way."

"It's alright-"

"No, it's not. You had every right to know-"

"What was Hod like?"

He was caught off guard by the sudden question, "What?"

"Hod," Alex repeated, looking him in the eyes again, "What was it like? Isabell only told me about our parents. She said I should wait to talk to you about this; she said you've probably wanted to talk to me about this for a while."

"I have," he replied simply, only slightly surprised to hear Alex use Isabell's name.

"So what was it like?" Alex asked again, "I still don't remember anything. Maybe if I heard about it my memories would start to come back."

Guy smiled at her before launching into an explanation of Hod. He told Alex everything he remembered about their homeland, and answered all of her questions to the best of his ability.

Before they knew it, the sun had risen, yet Guy didn't care in the least about the lack of sleep he'd had that night.

**…**

Jade left his hotel room that morning thinking about the day ahead. The last thing he wanted to do was see Dist, however, as they had to retrieve the flightstone, they had no choice but to search for him.

"Good morning, Colonel!" Anise called as she approached him outside his room.

"Good morning, Anise," he replied pleasantly, "I trust you slept well?"

"Yep" she replied with a smile, "What about you?"

"The same," he said. In truth he hadn't slept well at all. His room was next to Alex's, and the walls were thin, so he had heard the entire night's events between Alex and Guy.

Just then the door to Alex's room opened and both she and Guy left. Both of them looked tired, most likely the result of talking all night, but Jade noticed that Alex looked considerably happier than she had in days.

"…So you don't want anyone else to know?" Guy was asking. Anise noticed Jade looking in their direction and turned her attention to them as well, a curious look on her face.

Alex shook her head, "No, not yet anyway."

Guy nodded, "Alright, I won't tell anyone."

Of course, Jade knew what they were talking about, but Anise clearly had no idea.

"What don't you want us to know?" she asked the two of them, suspicion in her voice.

Both of them jumped at her voice, they hadn't noticed Anise and Jade standing there, even though they were only a few feet away.

"N-nothing," Guy said defensively.

Anise narrowed her eyes at him before turning to Jade, "Do you know what they're talking about, Colonel?"

Of course he did, but he had told Alex that he wouldn't tell anyone her secret. He was well known within the group for his ability to lie, but he wasn't the type of person to go back on his word. That didn't mean he couldn't have any fun though.

Jade pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, noticing Alex silently pleading for him not to say anything over Anise's head.

"Now, now, Anise," Jade said with a small smirk, "What happens in the bedroom is between a man and a woman."

The reactions were instantaneous. Guy began splutter incoherent sentences, clearly trying to explain the situation. Alex was doing the same, though her words were clearer, and she was glaring daggers at Jade, making him chuckle slightly. Anise's eyes widened in realization as she looked at Guy and Alex, and a wide grin slowly spread across her face.

"Oh?" she giggled, "So I guess Guy's completely over his phobia then?"

Their faces turned bright red, their eyes widened, and Guy began to protest again.

"It's probably because of my method," Anise said, smiling and ignoring Guy's attempts to to protest. Jade's smirk grew slightly when he realized she was talking about her constantly throwing herself at Guy when he least expected it, "I knew it would help Guy get over his phobia! You can thank me later, Alex!"

Alex groaned and hid her face behind her hands as Guy turned a deeper shade of red. Jade considered the whole situation as payback for the lack of sleep he had the night before.

"You got it all wrong!" Guy said, finally managing to put together a coherent sentence.

Anise wasn't listening, she was already running off in the opposite direction.

"I'm going to go tell the others the good news!" she yelled happily as she went, the three of them watching her leave.

Alex and Guy turned to Jade, both glaring at him.

"You couldn't think of _anything _else to say to her?" Alex asked, crossing her arms.

Jade shrugged, "I could think of plenty more explanations. This one just seemed like it would have the most entertaining outcome."

"You really enjoy messing with us, don't you?" Guy asked, still glaring at him.

Jade merely continued to smirk at him, satisfied with the situation he had created. Luke joined them with Mieu on his shoulder.

"What's going on?" he asked, "Anise just ran past me in the hallway, she seemed really excited about something."

"Oh, it's nothing," Alex replied sarcastically, still glaring at Jade, "Anise almost found out my secret, so the Colonel decided to cover for me."

Luke didn't seem to pick up on her sarcasm, "Oh… That's…nice?"

"Yeah, not really," Guy replied, "He basically just told Anise we slept together."

There was a small silence for a moment as Luke looked at the two of them.

"…Did you?" he asked hesitantly, causing a small laugh to escape Jade's lips.

"Of course not!" Alex and Guy retorted, turning their glares from Jade to Luke.

"I'm not even completely over my phobia yet!" Guy continued.

"Yet?" Jade smirked, "So you're admitting you are indeed interested in-"

"Th-that's not what we're talking about!" Guy interrupted, his face turning red again. From the corner of his eye, he could see Luke smirking about the fact that Guy hadn't denied being interested in Alex, "We're talking about you telling Anise that Alex and I slept together when we didn't!"

Jade adjusted his glasses, "I did no such thing. I merely told her that what happened in that room last night is between the two of you. Anise was the one who jumped to conclusions."

"You wanted her to jump to that conclusion," Alex muttered darkly, "How do you even know he was in my room last night? For all you know he could have just been making sure I was awake."

"The walls are thin," Jade shrugged, "I heard you, though I wasn't trying to eavesdrop."

"Oh…"

"Wait," Luke said, turning to Guy, "You were in her room for the entire night?"

"Yes," Guy replied, "We were just talking."

Before Luke could ask anymore questions, Anise reappeared with Ion, Noelle, Tear, and Natalia in tow.

"Is what Anise says true?" Ion asked.

"No!" Alex and Guy replied.

It was as if whatever the two of them said remained unheard by everyone, or at least by Natalia.

"I understand that the two of you clearly have feelings for each other," she began, ignoring their groans, "But the fact remains, Alex, that you are a noble. You simply cannot behave this way. If your father knew…"

As Natalia continued, Jade realized that the joke had gone too far. What Natalia was saying was the worst possible thing that could be said to Alex in that moment, though Natalia didn't seem to notice the immediate change in atmosphere around the group once she had mentioned Alex's 'father'. Alex had begun to shake in anger, though Jade could tell by the expression on her face that she was trying to control herself. But with every word Natalia said, the shaking got worse, and she started glaring at Natalia, yet the princess failed to notice. Luke was watching Alex nervously, Mieu's ears drooped, Anise, Tear, and Noelle all looked worried and confused by Alex's reaction to Natalia's words. Guy looked the most uncomfortable out of all of them.

Just as Alex opened her mouth to talk back to Natalia, Jade decided that enough was enough. He would be to blame for her telling everyone her secret just to get them off her back because of the comment he'd made, and that was the same as telling the others himself in his mind.

"I'm sure this is all just a misunderstanding," Jade said, stopping Alex from most likely blurting out her secret, "I highly doubt that after only a few days Guy would be over his phobia to that extent."

The others all looked at him, and Natalia stopped talking.

"But, Colonel, you said-"

"I was not in the room," Jade replied, cutting Anise's remark short, "Therefore I could not possibly know what happened."

"Then why was he in her room?" Natalia asked, narrowing her eyes at Jade.

"I was just making sure she was awake," Guy answered.

"But you promised Alex you wouldn't tell us something," Anise said.

"That's right," Guy said, "And I'm not going to tell you that secret just because you know I'm keeping it."

"Does it have something to do with why you've been acting so strangely?" Tear asked Alex.

"…Yes," she sighed, "But I'd rather not tell you about it right now."

"I think we can all respect that, can't we?" Ion asked the others, "After all, Alex has spoken to us more in the past half hour than she has all week."

The others agreed, though Anise looked reluctant to do so.

"You will tell us eventually though, won't you?" Noelle asked her, "I think it's safe to say that we've all been worried about you."

"Yeah," Alex sighed, "Sorry for worrying you guys. I promise I'll explain everything once we've got this peace treaty settled."

"You do seem to be acting more like yourself again…" Tear said, looking at her closely, "I'll be patient. It's not my buisness to know."

"Alright!" Anise announced just as Tear finished, "If Alex is gonna tell us why she's been acting so weird, then we have to get the peace treaty signed, and to do that, we have to get the flightstone back!" she pointed to the staircase that lead to the hotel's lobby, "So let's head to Daath!"

No one seemed phased by her enthusiasm, and they followed her down the stairs. Jade stopped Alex and Guy as they began to follow the others.

"I apologize," he told them, "I didn't expect it to go that far."

"It's fine, Colonel," Alex replied, though it didn't sound fine at all.

"They know nothing happened," Guy added, "So let's just forget this ever happened and go to Daath."

* * *

It took a few hours for them to get to Daath in the Albiore, and they ran into no problems in the city as they went to the cathedral. Just as they were discussing how they would be able to find Dist, a paper airplane hit Anise on the back of her head.

She was startled by sudden contact and immediately turned in the direction from which it was thrown.

"Who the hell threw that?" she yelled, looking around the area as Luke picked up the piece of paper.

"It's a letter," he said. Jade instantly knew who it was from when he saw the rose on the back of the paper. "Hey, it's from Dist."

"Really?" Alex asked, Jade was intrigued to hear a bit of excitement in her voice, "Read it!"

"Why are you so excited?" Anise asked, looking at her as if she had grown a second head. Everyone else was looking at her in much the same way, though part of the reason may have been because they were now used to Alex being quiet. After a week of her distancing herself she was suddenly acting like herself again. Jade could tell the others were both happy and confused about how suddenly she had recovered.

"He left a letter on the Albiore after he took the flightstone," Alex explained, starting to read the letter over Luke's shoulder, "It was kind of entertaining to read. It's funny how seriously he takes himself."

"You may think it's funny now," Jade told her, "But I assure you, you will start to think it's annoying soon enough."

"I don't doubt that," she replied simply, not taking her eyes off the letter, "Look," she said, pointing to the first line, "He calls us the 'Jade gang'. He did that in the last letter too."

"The 'Jade gang'?" Natalia repeated, "Well, since when did we become the 'Jade gang'?"

"Read it out loud, Luke!" Anise said, ignoring Natalia's comment.

_"To my hated enemies, the Jade gang,"_ Luke read, already looking annoyed at Dist's choice of words, _"I, the elegant Dist the Rose, now possess the flightstone. If you want it, come to the place of our covenant. We will settle this once and for all! You're scared aren't you? Terrified? But no matter. You'll never get the flightstone unless you meet me here. It's not in Daath. Most definitely not! Hurry! Dist the Rose, God-General."_ Luke read all of this in a monotone, but as he read it, Jade could hear Dist's annoying voice in his head saying the words.

"Huh," Alex said when Luke finished reading it, "There's no maniacal laughter in this one? That's disappointing."

"He actually took the time to write down his stupid laugh?" Anise asked her, "That's a little sad…"

"Yeah, well, _Dist's_ a little sad," Alex shrugged, Jade found himself smiling slightly at her words.

"Anyway," Luke said as he tore the letter in half and threw the pieces away, "He should have just said it's in Daath. What an idiot."

"What do you think we should do, Colonel?" Tear asked.

"Ignore him," Jade replied simply, "Luke's right. The flightstone is almost certainly here in Daath."

"But Dist told us to-" Ion began, looking guilty about ignoring Dist's request.

"The promised place he mentioned is probably Keterburg," Jade said, "If we ignore him, he'll just wait there and freeze solid."

"The poor bastard…" Guy muttered, earning a nod from Alex.

"Just in case," Anise said, "Let's ask Tritheim whether Dist's come back or not."

Everyone thought this was a sound plan, and they entered the cathedral without anymore delay. They found Tritheim in the chapel.

"Fon Master Ion," he said sternly as the group approached him, "We've been looking for you."

"My apologies," Ion replied, "But I'm afraid I must be away a little longer."

"What about your duties as Fon Master? Grand Maestro Mohs left as soon as he returned, taking a regiment of Oracle soldiers to Aramis Spring."

"Interesting…" Jade smirked, knowing immediately what Mohs was trying to do, "He must be planning to close off the Yulia Road and force us to meet Dist."

"Speaking of Dist," Anise piped up, "What has he been doing, Maestro Tritheim?"

"He returned here briefly," Tritheim replied, turning to Anise, "But he hurried off again shortly after he arrived. His attendant, Cantor Reiner, should know the details."

"Where can we find him?" Luke asked.

"He should be training at Oracle Headquarters right now," Tritheim explained.

They thanked him for the information and left the chapel.

"So we have to go to the headquarters again…" Alex sighed, "The place is so huge, who knows how long it'll take to find Reiner."

"We don't have a permit this time," Guy said, "Ion can get us in though, right?"

"Yes," Ion replied, "It shouldn't be a problem."

As they approached the door that lead to the headquarters, they noticed an Oracle soldier blocking their path.

"I'm sorry, Fon Master," he said when Ion asked him to let them through, "I can't let anyone through. If you leave the cathedral, you may be able to get to the headquarters from the other entrance."

Ion looked confused by this, but he did not question it. "Alright," he said, "Thank you."

"What was that about?" Luke asked as they left the cathedral.

"It was probably Mohs or Dist who told him not to let anyone through," Tear replied.

"If that's the case," said Alex, "Then why would they let us through the other entrance? Mohs or Dist would have told the other guards not to let us through either, wouldn't he?"

"I can get us through if they have," Ion told her.

Nobody questioned him as they approached the guard outside the entrance.

"I'm here to see Cantor Reiner," Ion told him, "Please let me through."

"But… Grand Maestro Mohs said-"

"_Who _is the supreme leader of this Order?" Ion asked, in a surprisingly intimidating voice.

"F-forgive me!" the guard cried as he stepped away from the door, "You can pass."

The group wasted no time in doing so, and they were immediately met with plenty of Oracle soldiers upon entering the building.

"Stand down!" Anise ordered, "You are in the presence of Fon Master Ion!"

"Locrian Colonel Dist gave us orders not to let anyone through," the soldier in the middle replied as they all drew their swords, "No matter who they are."

Jade found this information entertaining, so much so that he actually let out a laugh. He was already aware after years of knowing Dist that he wasn't as bright as he made himself out to be, but this was ridiculous. Dist was basically telling them that the flightstone was here in the headquarters.

"What's so funny?" the same guard demanded.

"My apologies," Jade replied, adjusting his glasses, "I wasn't laughing at you."

The soldier seemed to think Jade was mocking him, and he braced himself for battle. The other soldiers followed suit.

"No one makes fools of us!" the soldier growled, "Fon Master Ion stays unharmed, kill the rest!"

Without even the slightest hesitation, everyone jumped into action. Guy, Luke, and Alex all drew their swords and dashed at a different soldier, leaving three soldiers to the rest of the group to handle. Tear and Jade both started casting while Natalia bowed an arrow and prepared to shoot. While that was happening Anise assumed a defensive position in front of Ion and prepared herself to attack if it was necessary.

_"That which would seek revenge, carve here thy holy seal... Eclair de Larmes!" _Tear cried. A glowing X appeared under one of the soldiers feet. He cursed loudly and jumped away from the attack before it could do any damage, only to be hit by a barrage of arrows from Natalia, leaving him in a pool of his own blood.

Another of the soldiers, enraged by his comrade's death, let out a roar and dashed at Natalia, who attempted to shoot an arrow at him, but she lost balance and fell to the ground. Jade quickly took action and conjured his spear, preventing the soldier from reaching her. Jade swung his spear at the soldier, who jumped to the side to avoid it and right into a powerful Negative Gate from Anise.

"Thank you, Jade," Natalia gasped as she got to her feet.

"Don't mention it," he replied, as he prepared to cast again, "Just focus on the enemy!"

She nodded and ran to help Luke, who was now single-handedly fighting off two soldiers.

This had gone on long enough. They didn't have time for this.

Jade had secretly been practising his artes, he was tired of the fon slot seal Largo placed on him so long ago hindering him in battle. He felt confident as he allowed fonons flow through his body, preparing to cast a spell much more powerful than the ones he had been forced to settle with for so long.

_"O admonishing melody, arise in the name of the Necromancer!"_

A cage of glowing energy surrounded the entire battlefield, and the group members that were inside the cage took their chance to get out of there. Not that it would matter much anyway, the arte would only harm the soldiers, who were glued to the ground by the arte, unable to escape.

"_Mystic Cage!"_

The glowing cage began to compress around the soldiers, dealing massive amounts of damage to them and killing them on the spot.

"Now know what true power is."

"W-whoa…"

Jade turned around to face his comrades, amused at the looks on their faces when he saw them. They were all staring at him with wide eyes, speechless. It was Anise who finally broke the silence.

"That was awesome, Colonel!" she cried, looking very impressed. Some of the others stiffly nodded their heads, unable to come up with anything to say, "What's your secret for being so strong?"

With how everyone looked, Jade decided to have a bit of fun with them, "Simple," he smirked, "I drink people's blood."

Anise's eyes widened in shock, "Huh?..."

Jade sighed inwardly, it was difficult when people took him so seriously.

Nobody but Anise seemed to believe what he had just said, but they were still speechless from the arte he had just performed.

Somebody from the platform above them, however, wasn't so speechless.

"Impressive," the voice said, "I see the fon slot seal Largo told me about wasn't able to hold you back for very long."


	28. The Peace Treaty

_Chapter 28: The Peace Treaty_

"I see the fon slot seal Largo told me about wasn't able to hold you back for very long."

The group was startled by the voice, and immediately set to surveying the area, drawing their weapons once again, looking for the speaker. The voice was coming from above them, so Tear readied her throwing knives. It didn't take long for them to find the speaker, since the blue of her uniform stood out against the dully coloured headquarters. She was leaning against the railing of the platform above the group, smirking at Jade.

Tear had seen Garcia once before, so she knew who she was the second she saw her, but Natalia and Luke had never met her before. Even Anise said she had never met her, which Tear found surprising, since she was in the Oracle Knights _and_ lived in the cathedral. With how elusive Garcia seemed to be, Tear didn't even know if _Ion_ knew her or not.

From the corner of her eye, Tear could see that Alex looked happy to see her. Did they become friends after Garcia rescued her in Baticul? If that was the case, it wasn't a good situation for Alex to be in. Whatever the reason, becoming close to an enemy could be a fatal mistake.

"Garcia," Jade said. Though Tear was behind him, she could tell by his tone of voice that he was smirking as well, "To what do we owe this pleasant surprise?"

Garcia's smirk grew, and in one swift movement, she leaped over the railing and landed gracefully in front of the group, her long ponytail swaying behind her. Tear noticed she was holding something in her hand, but she couldn't see what it was.

"Wait…" Anise said slowly, narrowing her eyes at the God-General in front of them, "This is Garcia?"

Her question caught Garcia's attention and her eyes darted to the young girl. She seemed to take notice of the fact that Anise was still on Tokunaga's back, ready to fight, and she looked at the rest of them, eyeing their weapons.

"You can put those away, I don't intend to fight you," she said, sounding almost bored, "I'm actually here to help you."

Alex didn't even hesitate to put away her sword, and Guy and, to Tear's surprise, Jade slowly put their weapons away as well. The others weren't persuaded so easily.

"Do you honestly expect us to believe that?" Natalia asked, bowing an arrow and aiming at her. Tear noticed that Garcia didn't even look slightly worried about Natalia's action.

"Yeah!" Anise agreed, pointing at her, "You're a God-General! You work for Van! Why should we trust you?"

"I never asked you to _trust _me," Garcia shrugged, "But I will say that I believe Van's gone too far this time. I don't want the Outer Lands to be destroyed."

"Then why are you still a God-General?" Luke asked slowly, suspicion in his voice.

"Yes," Tear agreed, "If you don't believe in my brother's ideals, why don't you leave the God-Generals?"

"I have my reasons," Garcia shrugged, "There are just some things in the Outer Lands that I'm a little too attached to, I don't want them to be destroyed along with the Outer Lands," Tear saw Garcia's eyes flash in Alex's direction for a second, but she didn't have time to think about it before Garcia continued, "I tried to explain to Van that his plans are too extreme, but he wouldn't listen. So I'm trying to prevent his plan from working in any way I can. If that means helping you, then I'll gladly do it." She held up the device she was holding in her hand, "This should prove that I'm telling the truth." She tossed the device to Guy, who caught it.

"The Flightstone?" he asked, looking at it closely. The others finally lowered their weapons, but they were prepared to raise them again if they needed to.

"Yes," Garcia replied, looking amused at the group members who had just lowered their weapons. Tear took notice of the fact that Anise was holding on to Tokunaga instead of putting him back in his usual place on her back. "I heard you earlier in Daath Cathedral saying you needed it. I thought you might have some trouble getting through the headquarters to get the Flightstone with Dist increasing security and everything, so I went ahead and got it for you. When I got back from seeing Reiner, I saw you were all in battle, so I decided to watch."

She turned back to Jade, "That arte… You called it Mystic Cage? I've never seen anything like it before, it was impressive."

"I am honoured by your compliment," Jade replied, still smirking.

"A normal fonist would take much longer to break a fon slot seal that strong…" she continued, eyeing him closely.

"We get it," Anise huffed, "The Colonel's incredibly strong. ...Anyway, we have the Flightstone now, so can we get going to Yulia City? We're in a hurry, remember?"

"Right," Garcia replied, looking at her with an annoyed expression, "You should leave before more guards get here."

"Thanks for your help," Alex called, waving goodbye to her as everyone turned to leave.

Garcia smiled kindly at her, making Tear revisit her thoughts of the two of them becoming friends after what happened in Baticul.

"Don't mention it," Garcia told her, "Just make sure you save the Outer Lands."

* * *

"Should we really have just left Garcia there?" Natalia asked, "I expected Jade to have her arrested."

"Why should I have arrested her?" Jade asked, "She did just help us after all. It would also be difficult to arrest somebody from the Oracle Knights in their own headquarters."

"I suppose you're right," Natalia sighed, "But I still don't trust her."

They were in the Albiore, relieved that it was finally able to fly again. They were heading to Chesedonia, by Ion's request. He thought it would be a good idea to speak to Astor about the effects of the miasma, so both the King and Emperor would know what they were signing up for.

Tear, Jade, Anise, Ion, Luke, and Natalia were all sitting around a small table in the main room of the Albiore, discussing what had just happened in Daath. Guy and Alex were a few feet away, talking quietly. They both looked happy, which relieved Tear. Alex's strange behaviour was worrying for everybody, but it seemed to affect Guy the most. Though she was still curious about what had made Alex act that way, Tear was glad they were both happy again.

Natalia, however, seemed less than happy about this. She had her eyes narrowed at the two of them the entire time she was talking to the others.

"Natalia, what's wrong?" Luke finally asked her with a sigh, looking as though he already knew the answer.

Natalia didn't look away from Alex and Guy when she answered, "You don't honestly think your father would be okay with their relationship?" she asked, in a disapproving voice.

Luke groaned, "Who cares what he thinks?"

Natalia finally looked away from Alex and Guy, looking appalled at what Luke just said, "_Who cares?_" she repeated, keeping her voice low so the two wouldn't hear her,"Luke, _you_ should care! If your father found out about those two, they could get into serious trouble!"

"You never had a problem with them before," Tear said, she was confused by Natalia's sudden problem with the two of them.

"Guy showed no signs of getting over his phobia before now…" Natalia replied quietly, shifting gaze to her feet, "But those two have been getting closer lately, and he's slowly overcoming his phobia. I know what I'm saying sounds awful, but… They _are_ my friends, and I do care about them. I don't want them to get too close only to end up being hurt."

"I hope you didn't take that conversation in Grand Chokmah's hotel too seriously," Jade said, adjusting his glasses. Tear didn't know why, but it annoyed her when he did that, though it was always worse when he was pushing his glasses up his nose, "Nothing happened between them that night, what I said was a joke."

"It was a mean joke to play, Jade!" Mieu squeaked. Tear nodded in agreement, trying her best to conceal just how cute she thought Mieu was.

"Anyway," Anise said, turning to Natalia, "I don't get what the big problem is. Guy's not just a servant like we thought, he's a noble like Alex."

"He's still Malkuthian," Natalia stated simply, "The Duke hates Malkuthians."

"I don't even know why we're talking about this," Luke groaned, leaning back in his chair and covering his face with his hands. He was clearly sick of the conversation, "They aren't even _in _a relationship. Guy's not completely over his phobia yet."

"Luke's right," Jade said, "There's no sense in meddling in a relationship that doesn't exist."

Natalia wasn't backing down, "It's clear they have feelings for each other. It's only a matter of time before-"

She was cut off by Alex laughing from where she and Guy were. It appeared that something Guy said had made her break down in a fit of laughter. The conversation between the group stopped as everyone turned their attention to her and Guy. Alex was hunched over, holding her stomach because she was laughing so hard. Her eyes were closed, and she even had few tears of mirth sliding down her face. Guy was watching her with a smile on his face as she laughed, and there was no mistaking the light blush on his cheeks.

For Natalia, the scene before them seemed to be proof enough that she was right in wanting to interfere with them. She stood up from her seat without a word and started to walk over to them before Tear, who was closest to her, stood up as well and grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop.

"Natalia," Tear said forcefully, pulling her back down into her seat, "If those two _do _want to be together, no amount of obstacles will stop them. You'll only get them angry with you. I'm sure they already know about the consequences of any relationship they might have in the future. If you do care about them like you say you do, then you won't interfere."

Natalia openly glared at her and opened her mouth to retort, but Ion spoke before she could say anything.

"I agree with Tear," he said, "Alex is finally happy again, isn't that what matters? If you try to interfere, it will only make her upset again."

"Natalia," Luke pleaded, sitting up straight again, "Please don't interfere."

"Why do you want them to be together so badly?" Natalia asked him, glaring at him now.

"I want them to be happy," Luke replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Natalia's face softened at the words, and she sighed heavily. "Alright, I won't interfere…"

"Thank you," Luke said, smiling brightly at her.

* * *

"I'll return to the Outer Lands to get the King and Emperor, then," Noelle said as the group was getting off the Albiore to enter Chesedonia, "I'll come back for you once they're safely in Yulia City."

"Thanks, Noelle."

The group didn't waste any time on their way to Astor's mansion, the barrier between Malkuth and Kimlasca was still up, so they had to go through the bar again to get to the mansion, but that was the only delay they had.

"I see, so that's why you've come for me," Astor said after Ion had explained the situation to him. He let out his strange, high-pitched laugh, "You have my deepest gratitude for considering me." His face turned suddenly serious when he continued, "I can offer explanations of what to look out for, the effects of the miasma, and other such issues."

"That should be useful to hear when preparing for the descent," Tear said, she had never actually thought about the effects of the miasma. Now that they were speaking about it, though, she remembered what the Uniceros had said in Tataroo Valley. Did she really have miasma in her body?...

"What effect _has _the miasma had, anyway?" Luke asked, a worried look on his face, "Have people been getting sick?"

"Some of the children and elderly who were exposed to the miasma became bed-ridden," Aster replied with a sigh, "People from Yulia City have taken in the most critical, but they can't take in all of them… I'm also worried about our emergency food stores. They were depleted because of the war."

"How about petitioning the King and Emperor?" Guy asked.

"Yeah," Luke agreed, "Let's do that."

"By the way," Ion said suddenly, "When are we leaving?"

"Noelle won't be back for a while yet," Anise told him.

"Let's rest at the inn," Jade said, "That will also give Astor time to prepare."

"I'll cover the cost of the inn for you," Astor announced, "Please, relax and get some rest."

"Thanks," Luke said, "We appreciate it."

* * *

Tear was walking down the hallway of the inn when she noticed that Luke's door was open. She saw him sitting on his bed, staring into space. He looked depressed.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she entered his room, closing the door behind her.

He jumped at her voice, "Tear? When did you get in here?"

"Your door was open," she replied with a small smile. She was amused by his reaction, "You looked depressed. What's wrong?"

Luke sighed and looked at his feet, "Sorry… I'm worried about the miasma. All I know about it is that it's bad for people. That's it. It's not going to kill everybody all of a sudden is it…?"

"Like I said before, it's only bad if you inhale a lot over a long period of time." Luke lifted his head look at her, and the small smile she had on faded as she continued, "But if it stays like this, then I think the population will drop by eighty percent by the next generation…" She knew it wasn't what he wanted to hear, but he needed to know about it - everyone did.

"Damn it!" Luke hissed, looking away from her. He fisted the blankets on his bed, shaking with anger, "Even if we lower the Outer Lands, it won't change a thing!"

"That's why the peace treaty includes an agreement to jointly research the miasma," Tear tried, though she knew it wouldn't be enough to comfort him.

"I know…" Luke sighed, "It's just… Why can't my hyperresonance disintegrate the miasma…? I hate this!" he shouted, Tear could see tears forming in his eyes, "I caused all of this, but I can't…"

Tear wanted to calm him down before he started getting too depressed again, she didn't want him getting suicidal again. She walked over to him and sat next to him on his bed.

"Settle down," she told him, "You said you were going to start with what you can do, right? One person probably can't do much alone, but people can work together." She placed a hand on his in comfort, "I… We're with you."

Luke sighed again, "Yeah. Sorry for talking like that again."

Tear shook her head as she got up, "It's okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."

"Night… Thanks."

…

The day had finally come. Alex was going to confront the Duke during the peace treaty. He was joining King Ingobert for the treaty, so the timing was perfect. She was more nervous than she had ever been in her entire life, but she wasn't going to chicken out. It was something that needed to be done sooner or later, and sooner was better than later.

She was tired of keeping everything a secret. Sure, Luke, Jade, and Guy all knew, and things had become considerably easier for her after Guy found out she knew, but she knew the others were worried and she didn't want to lie to them anymore.

The butterflies in her stomach went haywire as everyone entered the council room in Yulia City. Guy gave her a reassuring smile as they walked in. Alex had told him she was planning to confront the Duke on the way to Yulia City, more for a reason for her not to back down than anything else.

The Duke was already there, along with Astor, King Ingobert, and Emperor Peony, and both of the world leaders had their advisors with them. Teodoro was at the head of the table.

Natalia sat down next to her father, Jade took the empty seat next to Peony, and the others stood at the sidelines to observe.

Teodoro started the meeting once everyone was there, although Alex wasn't paying much attention. She was too nervous to think about anything, and the butterflies in her stomach made her feel sick.

"…Then please add your signatures to this document," Teodoro concluded, after describing every detail of the treaty. The two did as he said before he continued, "Good. With this, we conclude the formation of the peace treaty."

"Wait just one minute," Guy said with a serious look on his face, walking over to the table.

Alex wasn't shocked by this. After she had told Guy what she planned to do, he told her that he had some questions he wanted answered as well. They had even planned together how it was going to go. Her part was coming up, and she was wrong in thinking that she couldn't possibly get anymore nervous.

"Guy?" Luke asked, obviously wondering why Guy would want to stop what they worked so hard to make happen.

"Sorry, Luke. This is important," Guy told him, not looking sorry in the least, "Shut up for a minute."

Luke seemed shocked by Guy's seriousness, and did what he was told.

"You made an agreement like this right after the Hod war," Guy said, turning to King Ingobert, "Can you keep it this time?"

"This is different from Hod," Ingobert replied, "That was to bring us prosperity through the Score…"

"That's why you destroyed Hod?" Guy asked, appalled. Alex felt as angry as Guy looked at Ingobert's words. "There were Kimlascans there too!" Guy continued, "Like my mother." He pulled out his sword and held it at Ingobert's throat.

"Guy!" Natalia cried, shock and worry on her features. She rose from her seat the second Guy pulled out his sword, as did the Duke. "What are you doing?"

"Your mother…?" Ingobert asked, he didn't look too worried about the fact that Guy had his sword held at his throat. Natalia's question was ignored.

"Eugenie Cecille," Guy answered, glaring intensely at Ingobert, "You sent her to marry into House Gardios as a gesture of peace. Don't try to say you've forgotten."

Alex took a deep breath; it was her turn. She steeled herself and approached the Duke.

"What about you, _'Father'_?" Alex asked, all feelings of nervousness having been replaced by anger. She didn't bother to hide her glare, "Do _you_ have anything to say?"

* * *

_**A/N: I'm not actually sure how I feel about this chapter… It's not my best, and I think I'm getting the beginnings of another writers block, which is why the chapter's so short. T-T Seriously, this is the shortest chapter I've written in a while. Also, sorry for the many page breaks... Anyway… Review?**_

_**I do not own Tales of the Abyss, all I own are Alex and Garcia, and the plots revolving around them.**_


	29. New Beginning

_**A/N: Do not own Tales of the Abyss.**_

_**"Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings."**_

* * *

_Chapter 29: New Beginning_

"What about you, 'Father'?" Alex asked, all feelings of nervousness having been replaced by anger. She didn't bother to hide her glare, "Do you have anything to say?"

"Alex?" Natalia asked, sparing a second to glace at her in confusion before her eyes darted back to Guy's sword, which was still being held at Ingobert's throat.  
Alex didn't notice Natalia say her name, she was too busy studying the Duke for a reaction. His eyes widened ever so slightly before his face went back to its usual stony expression. She could see some emotion in his eyes, but she wasn't sure what it was. He clearly figured out she knew the truth - probably from the emphasis she had put on the word 'Father', and the tell-tale glare she was giving him.

"I see…" he said slowly, causing anger to boil up inside of Alex. That was all he had to say? He turned his head to look at Guy, who was glaring back at him, not lowering his sword from Ingobert's throat. "I take it you told her?"

"No," Guy replied coldly, "But I should have."

"What are you talking about?" Natalia demanded, her eyes now darting between the Duke and Guy, looking both worried and confused. She wasn't the only one who looked confused either, everyone, aside from the people involved in the scene and Jade and Luke, looked confused as well. Luke looked very uncomfortable with the scene before him, and Jade at least had the decency to not look amused, instead he kept a straight face.

"Yes," Ion agreed, "I'd like to know as well."

Neither Guy or Alex stopped glaring at the Duke. Silently daring him to tell everyone the truth. When he said nothing, Alex finally spoke, not even trying to hide her contempt.

"Apparently," she said, still glaring at them man who dared to call himself her father, "As some sick, twisted joke, my father here decided to adopt me after killing my real parents during the Hod War."

Silence. Everyone reacted to the words in a different way, people gasped, eyes widened, and everyone looked at the Duke for clarification.

"Is this true?…" Natalia asked quietly, her voice slightly muffled by the hand she had covered her mouth with to hide her gasp.

"…Yes," the Duke finally replied, his face not showing any emotion, "Though I wasn't the one who killed her parents, and I certainly did not take her in as a cruel joke."

"Then why?" Alex demanded, it didn't make her feel better in the slightest that he wasn't the one who physically took her parents' lives, he was still in charge of the attack on Hod.

The Duke was quiet for a moment, "Do you honestly wish for me to answer that question with so many people-?"

"I don't care," Alex retorted, most of the people in the room were her friends, she'd probably tell them later anyway.

The Duke still looked reluctant to answer.

"With all due respect, Your Grace," Jade said suddenly, rising from his seat and drawing Alex's attention from the Duke for the first time, "I believe Alex is entitled to some answers-"

"No one asked your opinion, Necromancer."

"My apologies," Jade replied, but he didn't look apologetic at all.

"Then maybe you'll take my opinion into account," Guy suggested, gaining everyone's attention again. He nodded pointedly at the sword still held at Ingobert's throat,

"Answer her."

Alex knew Guy would never actually do it, and she wanted to tell Natalia, who looked completely terrified, that he wouldn't. Still, his threat seemed to break the Duke.

"If you've come for revenge, then-"

Guy shook his head, "Answer her," he repeated, his voice more forceful than before.

He remained quiet for a long moment before finally turning back to Alex, "What do you wish to know?"

She could see his eyes frequently moving back to Guy's blade, and she could tell he was unhappy about being put on the spot. She didn't care. He fed her lies for sixteen years; they were letting him off easy with this.

"Why did you take me in?" she demanded.

"The Score."

"You're going to have to be a hell of a lot more specific than that!"

"…Long ago, after your moth- Suzanne and I married, the Score was read for us. It said that we would have two children, a boy and a girl, and the girl would be the oldest. Suzanne was sickly even then, so she had trouble bearing a child. The year our daughter was meant to be born passed, and Suzanne had not given birth. When she finally did give birth, three years later, it was Luke who was born."

Alex knew where he was going with this, but she let him continue anyway.

"We were terrified, we believed it meant we had accidentally abandoned the Score, and ruined Kimlasca's chances for prosperity. Then the Hod War began, and I found you. Your hair and eye colours were perfect. You could have easily been a member of the royal family, and you were about the age our daughter would have been had she been born. You were unconscious when I found you, and you were about to be killed by one of my soldiers. I thought it may have been my last chance to put the Score back on the right track, so I stopped the soldier and took you. You didn't regain consciousness until weeks later, and when you did, you remembered nothing but your first name. We made up a birthday for you, around the time our daughter should have been born, and nobody but the two of us, along with the king and late queen, ever knew that you weren't related to us by blood."

Alex wasn't sure what to think about this explanation. So he had saved her, so what? Part of her would have rather died with her family than have to think about being raised by somebody responsible, however indirectly, for the deaths of her parents. And she wouldn't forgive him for killing Guy's parents either.

But if she had died, what would have happened to Guy? To Isabell? The scenarios ran through her head. Guy going through with his revenge. Him joining Van in his plan to destroy the Outer Lands.

She already knew what would have happened to Isabell. She had told Alex herself when she snuck into her hotel room one night to talk.

She was unbelievably depressed after the Hod war, which was understandable. She was an orphan, living on the streets for a few years. She had to steal for food, which resulted in merchants hating her. Sometimes the more aggressive ones had tried to kill her. Thankfully she occasionally came across the odd kind-hearted merchant, who would give her food because they felt sorry for her. She would have starved to death if it weren't for those people.

But either way, Isabell had planned to end her life the day Van found her.

Van gave her new hope. Telling her of his plans of revenge for Hod, how Guy was alive, and, what really gave her back her will to live, how Alex was alive as well.

Van took her to Daath and began to train her, later making her a God-General. He had saved her life, gave her the will to live, and as such Isabell felt indebted to him.

It was why she never left the God-Generals, even though she no longer believed what he was doing was right.

She had also mentioned someone named Cantabile, but when Alex asked her more about the person she changed the subject. Alex didn't try to ask her anymore questions about the person, since it was clearly a sensitive subject for Isabell.

The Duke broke the uncomfortable silence in the room that had settled once he had finished his explanation. Nobody had seemed to want to say anything, or they were too shocked to think of anything to say. The Duke once again turned to Guy, who still had not lowered his blade.

"If you've come for revenge, then kill me. I'm the one who killed Countess Gardios, because she refused to aid in the invasion of Malkuth."

Alex found herself hating the Duke more and more with every word he said; that was a despicable reason to kill somebody, and Guy now had no mother because of it.

"Father!" Luke exclaimed, appalled at what everyone was hearing, "You really-"

"It was war," he retorted, "You do what you must in order to prevail… Just as we used your death to cause the battle of Rugnica Plains."

"My mother at least knew what she was doing when she married into that family," Guy said, "But what possible reason was there to involve everyone else? To destroy Hod?"

"I may be the more worthy target for your blade, Gailardia Galan," Emperor Peony said suddenly, taking almost everyone by surprise.

"Your Majesty?" Guy asked, the anger on his face being replaced with confusion in a split second.

"Kimlasca didn't destroy Hod," Peony explained, looking ashamed of what he was saying, "We did."

"What are you talking about?" Tear asked, looking completely disturbed. Alex had almost forgotten that Hod was her homeland as well.

"Fomicry research was being conducted on Hod," Peony continued, "Jade knows what I'm talking about."

"With war about to begin," Jade began, picking up where Peony left off, "We shut down all of our fonic experiments on Hod. There wasn't time to deal with the research."

"The previous Emperor - my father - decided to destroy the Kimlascan army, and Hod with it."

"I heard a test subject was connected to a device that artificially generated a resonance."

Alex couldn't believe what she was hearing, and it didn't look like Guy could either.

"So that's how Hod was destroyed…" he said.

"My father presented the event as Kimlasca's work to quash anti-war sentiment at home."

"That's horrible…" Anise said quietly, looking teary, "I feel so sorry for the test subject…"

"Yes," Jade agreed, "The record shows he was only eleven years old at the time. You may have known him," he added, turning to Guy.

"Me…?"

"He was the son of a knight who served House Gardios. I believe their family name was Fende."

"You can't mean Vandesdelca Musto Fende?" Tear asked, her eyes widening.

"You know him, Tear?" Luke asked.

"If he's the son of Fende, she more than knows him," Guy answered, not taking his eyes off Jade, "And so do you, Luke."

"What?"

"It's Van," Guy said, "Van Grants. Vandesdelca Musto Fende is his real name."

It all made sense to Alex when she heard that. That was why Van wanted revenge for Hod so badly. He was the unfortunate test subject responsible for Hod's destruction; Alex could understand why he'd hold such a grudge for something like that. That must have been why he wanted revenge on more than just Kimlasca.

"So that's how he knew about animate replication even though we sealed the information…" Jade said, the question had obviously been on his mind for some time.

The room was once again filled with uncomfortable silence. This time it was Ion who broke it.

"Guy, why don't you sheath your sword for now?" he suggested, "It's beginning to sound like you'd have to kill almost everyone in this room."

Guy did as he suggested, "I stopped wanting revenge a long time ago," he said, not looking at anyone.

Natalia looked completely relieved when Guy sheathed his sword.

"I never thought Van's name would come up like this…" Teodoro said, "Let's adjourn this meeting for now. I trust that suits everyone here."

Everyone left their seats, most people seeming to want to get away from the awkwardness in the room. The Duke was one of the first to leave the room, and Alex watched him go with a glare.

"You're from Hod?" Anise asked from behind her, shocking Alex slightly.

She turned around to see the other members of the group standing around her, all looking concerned.

"Yeah," was all Alex could think to say.

"Are you alright?" Ion asked.

"Yeah," she repeated, "I've had some time to cope with it, so…"

"I had no idea…" Natalia said, for some reason she looked apologetic.

"D-don't look at me like that," Alex stuttered, uncomfortable with the looks she was getting from the others, "And please don't treat me any differently. I'm still the same person… It's hard enough thinking about it; I don't want you guys walking on egg shells. That'd only make me feel worse."

"I never would have expected you being from Hod," Tear said thoughtfully.

"Imagine how I felt when I found out."

"Seriously..." Luke said, "It was a little hard to watch…"

"Wait, you knew?" Anise demanded, rounding on Luke.

"I was with her when she found out," Luke said, backing away slightly from the young girl, "She asked me not to tell - Jade knew too!" he yelled out, pointing at Jade before hiding behind Tear.

Anise turned to Jade, "Colonel!"

"It wasn't my secret to tell, Anise," Jade shrugged.

"Boo…" Anise pouted, "Fine… So I guess that's why Guy never tried attacking you when he had that curse slot then, huh? It was because you were from Hod?"

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," Guy answered.

"And that's why you two have been spending more time together lately?" Natalia asked.

"Yeah, I guess we've had a lot to talk about. We actually sort of planned what just happened…"

"Sorry about that little display, by the way," Guy added, "We just wanted some answers."

"I think we can all understand that," Jade said, "Now then, shall we rest here for tonight? It's been a long day. We'll be heading to Sheridan tomorrow."

* * *

Alex was really beginning to hate her hair colour. Ever since she found out the truth, she couldn't stand looking at herself in the mirror. It was because of her hair and eye colour that she was taken in by the Duke in the first place, and all they ever reminded her of was the fact that she had been living a lie. She could handle the eye colour, a lot of people had green eyes, but it was the hair she had the biggest problem with.

She sighed heavily and began playing with her hair.

Everyone knew the truth about her now; she no longer had anything to hide.

It was time for some change.

* * *

Alex was admiring her work in the mirror, she was surprised at how well it turned out. She hoped the others wouldn't think badly of the change.

There was a knock on the door and Anise walked in, stopping in her tracks the second she noticed Alex's hair.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening, "You changed your hair!"

"Yeah," Alex replied, a little uncomfortable with Anise's stare, "Does it look weird?"

Anise shook her head, "No, it looks good brown."

"Thanks, Anise," Alex smiled, she had liked the colour she chose too. It was a dark, chestnut brown, she thought it would suit her, and since her hair was growing more as well the different colour made it look better longer somehow.

"I was wondering if you were going to keep your hair red after what happened during the peace treaty," Anise continued, "But are you going to keep those old clothes?"

"Y-yeah?" Alex replied uncertainly. She was fine with her old clothes, they were comfortable.

"Really?" Anise asked, tilting her head, "But you changed your hair so you didn't have to be reminded of your old life, right?"

"Yes…"

"Then you should change your clothes too! That way you can really start over!"

"I guess that makes sense, but-"

"Great!" Anise exclaimed, smiling brightly. She grabbed Alex's hand and started dragging her out of her room. She was surprisingly strong for a thirteen-year-old. "Let's go find a place to get clothes!"

"What are we going to find in Yulia City?" Alex asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sure we'll find something," Anise replied cheerfully, "If not, I can alter something to make it look more your style."

"Really?"

"Yeah, are you questioning the person who taught you how to sew?"

"No, sorry."

"Good. I think I've gotten good enough to do more than just fix a tear in someone's clothes, I think I can alter something. Anyway, like I said, we'll get you some new clothes."

They saw Noelle, Tear, and Natalia leaving one of the rooms ahead, and Anise dragged Alex over to them, calling their names. They turned their heads when they heard their names, and their reactions were very similar to Anise's when they saw Alex's hair.

"Alex?" Natalia asked as Anise and Alex approached them.

"Oh, yeah, she dyed her hair," Anise said, as if she had forgotten, "Doesn't it look good?"

"Yes," Natalia replied, "Did you have a problem with the old colour?"

"Well, yeah. I didn't really like being reminded of the fact that my life was a lie every time I looked in a mirror."

"That makes sense," Tear said, "I had a feeling you were going to do something like that."

"Yeah, I feel like I'm taking a leaf out of Luke's book," Alex smiled.

"So where are you two off to?" Noelle asked.

"I told Alex that if she's going to change her hair, she should change her clothes too. That way she can really start over with her life," Anise replied, "So, Tear, do you know any places in Yulia City where we can get new clothes, or at least some material?"

"I think there's a place just down the street from here," Tear replied.

"Great! Come on, Alex!"

"Do you mind if we come along?" Natalia asked.

"Yes," Noelle smiled, "We've spent so much time on the peace treaty and lowering the Outer Lands, it'd be nice to just have some fun and go shopping. What do you think, Tear?"

"I think so too," Tear replied with a small smile.

"Okay," said Anise, "That's good, actually. Now we can make sure we've picked out the right clothes for you, Alex."

"Yeah, I don't mind if you tag along," Alex shrugged. At first she was a little skeptical about getting new clothes, but she was starting to like the idea. Anise had a point, if she was going to change her hair, she might as well change her full appearance. It would boost her self-confidence, and it's not like she would change on the inside.

She was a little worried about what Guy would think, though.

* * *

"Here, try this on!"

When they got to the shop Tear had told them about, they didn't have a whole lot to choose from. Anise had run around gathering material, after asking Alex to give her her gloves so she could alter them a bit, since there was no point in buying all new clothes.

The end product was amazing, considering how little Anise had to work with. She really was talented with a sewing needle.

"I'm not finished with the gloves yet," Anise said as she handed the new outfit to Alex, "But they'll be done in a couple minutes. Go try that on in the meantime."

"I found these, too," Noelle added, holding up a pair of boots for her, "I thought you might like them."

"Thanks, you guys," Alex said, taking the boots from Noelle, "I'll be right back."

She went into the small changing room in the shop and started to change.

She slipped on the casual dress that Anise had just sewed up for her. It was about the same shade of purple that her old shirt was. The dress wasn't that long, it ended just above her knees, and it cut off at her shoulders. It also had openings on the sides, so she could move around in battle. The material was soft and warm, probably cotton, Alex thought. There was light blue trim at the bottom of the dress, and a collar of the same shade with black trim, which had two buttons keeping it together. Alex looked at herself in the small mirror in the room, Anise definitely was amazing for a thirteen-year-old. She could hardly recognize herself.

The dress didn't fit her form that well, but that changed when Alex put on her old blue belt with her sword fastened to it. She kept her black pants too and put them on under her dress, choosing to just wear the boots Noelle had picked out over them, the pants looked more like they were tights because of that.

The boots were fairly simple. They went up to just below her knees. They were black with white tongues that needed to be buttoned up on each side.

"Alex?" Anise asked from outside the room, "Can I come in? I'm all finished with the gloves."

"Yeah, come in."

The door opened and Anise walked in, smiling when she saw Alex.

"Am I a genius or what?"

"Yeah," Alex laughed, "I had no idea you were this good. It looks great."

"See? Aren't you glad I talked you into this?" Anise asked, handing her the gloves she had altered.

"Yeah, I am," she replied as she put them on, "You were right, this'll really help me start over. Thanks."

"You're welcome!" Anise said, smiling brightly, "I'm glad I could help. Sorry if I made those gloves a little complicated. Here - you might need help putting those on…"

The gloves were a little complicated. Anise had basically taken a pair of regular black gloves and added onto them with the sleeves of Alex's old ones. She had cut off the hands of the old gloves, and added white cuffs on both ends, the bottom cuffs had a couple buttons on them, which Anise did up for Alex.

"There!" Anise announced, taking a step back to admire her work, "Yep, I'm a genius alright! You look great!"

Alex laughed, "Thanks again, Anise."

"No problem, now let's go show the others!"

She grabbed Alex's hand again and dragged her out of the small changing room and in front of the other three girls, who were waiting outside the room chatting.

"What do you think?" Anise asked as the two of them came to a stop in front of them.

"I like it," Noelle said, looking Alex up and down.

"Yes, she looks great," Natalia agreed, while Tear nodded beside her, "I had no idea you were this capable with a sewing needle, Anise."

Anise smiled at the compliment, "Thanks… So how do you think Guy's going to react?" she asked slyly, turning to Alex.

"I don't know," she answered truthfully as she paid the shopkeeper for everything. He gave her a bag for her old clothes. She was a little worried about what Guy

would think. They'd known each other for years, and she'd pretty much just changed everything about her appearance. It would take a while for even her to get used

to, what would Guy think about it?

"Guy's not a judgmental person," Tear said, as if she sensed her nervousness, "I'm sure he'll understand why you chose to do this."

"Thanks, Tear," Alex replied, "You're probably right."

When Alex reached her room back at the inn, the first thing she did was throw her old clothes away. With this, she could really start her new life.

* * *

Alex woke up the next morning with a smile on her face, which she had not done in quite some time. She quickly got changed into her new clothes and headed outside to meet the others. She was anxious to find out how the boys would react.

The others were waiting outside the inn, and they all turned their heads in her direction when she approached them.

"I warned them ahead of time so they wouldn't be too shocked," Anise told her.

"Thanks, Anise," she replied, looking at the others nervously.

Ion was smiling at her, as was Jade, but the military man's small, amused smile made her more nervous than anything else.

Guy and Luke looked the most surprised. Their eyes bugged out and they appeared to be speechless.

"W-whoa…" Luke finally said, "Your hair-"

"And her clothes," Anise added proudly.

"Right. You look so…different."

"I think she looks nice," Ion smiled. Alex smiled back at him.

"Yeah!" Mieu squeaked, "You look pretty, Alex!"

"Thanks, Mieu," Alex laughed.

"Guy," Anise said, rounding on the blonde in question, "You still haven't said anything. What do you think?"

Alex turned to Guy, who was still looking at her. She was more nervous about what he was going to say than any of the others.

"You look great," he finally said with a smile.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he replied, scratching the back of his head, "Really."

"Well, now that that's settled," Jade said, gaining everyone's attention, "Let's head to Sheridan, shall we?"

Everyone agreed and they left the area, heading for the Albiore.

* * *

"By the way," Ion asked, as Noelle started up the Albiore, "I've been wondering. Alex, do you know what your real surname is?"

"Oh," Alex replied, wondering what the others would think of her being related to a God-General, "Yeah. It's 'Garcia'."

"You mean like the God-General?" Anise asked, shocked.

"That's right," Alex said, as the others all looked at her, "She's my older sister. And her first name's Isabell."

"Didn't see that one coming…" Luke said.

"Yes," Jade said sarcastically, "This is quite the interesting development."

"You already knew, Jade," Alex said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"So that's why she was helping us?" Tear asked, ignoring what Jade said.

"Yes."

"I guess this means we can trust her then," Anise said.

"You don't have to…" Alex replied, "Not right away, at least. But I do. And I'd rather not have to fight her."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that," Natalia told her, "Now that we know she's your sister, we won't go rushing into battle with her like with the other God-Generals. She's helped us before, I think we can trust her."

"Thanks, Natalia," Alex smiled.

She noticed that Guy hadn't taken his eyes off of her for the entire conversation, and he looked a little worried about something. She worried that it might be about her new look.

"Is something wrong, Guy?" she asked.

Her voice seemed to snap him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, no I'm fine," he replied. Alex didn't really believe him, he looked troubled by something, "Actually… Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure…" Alex replied, she was really nervous now. It was about her appearance, she knew it.

She followed him into the cabin on the Albiore, dreading what he was going to say.

"I was wondering…" Guy said after he closed the door behind her, "I kind of figured you wouldn't want to go back to Baticul after we've lowered the Outer Lands-"

Alex was confused. This was what he wanted to talk about? Guy noticed her confused expression.

"What is it?" he asked.

"This is what you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked, making him look at little confused himself, "I thought this was about my appearance…"

"Oh… No. Why? Were you worried I wouldn't approve of it or something?" he asked, air-quoting the word 'approve'.

"Well…"

Guy laughed, "Come on, Alex. I mean, it will take some getting used to, but I like it. Besides, it has nothing to do with me if you choose to change your appearance. And I understand why you did it."

Alex felt stupid now, "Right… I don't know why I was worried… So, what about me not wanting to go back to Baticul?"

"Oh, right. I figured you wouldn't want to. I was thinking of moving to Grand Chokmah, and I was wondering if you wanted to join me."

"You mean like…live together?"

"Well, that is the general idea, yeah. But we were technically living together in the manor before, so it won't be all that different. But that's only if you want to, if you don't that's fine-"

"No, I'd like that."

Guy smiled, "Really?"

"Yeah," Alex replied, smiling back.

Maybe this change in Alex's life wasn't so bad after all. In fact, she was beginning to like her new life.

* * *

_**A/N: Cheesy ending, I know. But I couldn't think of any other way to end it, so… I also feel like the ending was a little rushed...**_

_**New pictures of Alex! Links (remove the spaces):**_

_**(Note: I forgot the blue trim on her dress in this one. T-T Failure on my part.)**_

_**ihavenoidea8. deviantart #/d4hf5zg**_

_**ihavenoidea8. deviantart #/d4hf56s**_

_**What do you think of her new look? :)**_


	30. Slaughter at Sheridan

_Chapter 30: Slaughter at Sheridan_

"You understand everything? There's no room for mistakes in this mission."

"There's never any room for mistakes with my job. I understand what I have to do, Aston."

Aston merely nodded. He still looked unsure, "I'm sure you do, Noelle, but let me explain it again just to be sure. Better safe than sorry in situations like these…"

Noelle rolled her eyes as Aston began to explain the plan for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. She'd heard it so many times she could finish the explanation for him. So she did.

"I know, I know," she interrupted with a smile, holding up her hand to silence him, "When we get down to the core, they'll activate the fonic glyph Grandfather made. Then they return to the Albiore and I fly them out of there."

Aston looked a little annoyed about being interrupted, but he nodded again.

"I know I should probably know the whole plan," Noelle said, "But do I really have to know every little detail about it? The only thing I'm responsible for is getting them out of there. I don't play any part in activating the glyph; I'll be standing by on the Albiore while they do that."

Immediately after the group left Yulia City, they headed to Sheridan. Noelle stayed behind in the Port to help Aston, Hencken, and Cathy with last minute preparations for the trip to the core, which included landing the Albiore on the Tartarus, and afterwards Aston repeating the plan to Noelle over and over while Hencken and Cathy attached a pressure neutralizing fon machine to the Albiore.

The plan was to take the Tartarus to the place in the Outer Lands where Akzeriuth fell, a trip that would take five days, and dive into the core there. After they were in the core, they would activate a fonic glyph that Noelle's grandfather created for them that would generate a current of rising air so they could get the Albiore out of the core.

And they only had 130 hours to do all of that in. According to Aston, they had a rough ten hours to breach the core and get out.

Once they were ready to start, a flare would be shot from Sheridan, signalling for Aston to activate the fonic barrier around the Tartarus that would prevent everyone from being crushed inside the core.

"The flare's up!"

Noelle snapped her head in the direction of the voice and Aston stopped mid-explanation, as he had decided to explain the plan once more for good measure.

Before Noelle could register what was happening, Aston was no longer in front of her, instead he was activating the fonic barrier on the Tartarus.

Soon Cathy was beside her, leading her towards the Tartarus, speaking so frantically Noelle could hardly understand her.

"Cathy…" Noelle tried, rolling her eyes again when Cathy didn't even hear her name being called, "Cathy!"

Cathy stopped abruptly, looking like she just realized she was speaking, "Oh. Sorry, Dear. What is it?"

"Relax," Noelle laughed, "Everything's going to be fine."

"I know it will," Cathy replied with a smile. She gave Noelle a quick hug before continuing, "Now go wait on the Tartarus, I'm sure the others will be here in just a moment."

Noelle nodded and turned away from Cathy. She had just boarded the Tartarus when she heard a scream behind her.

Noelle turned herself around and scanned the port for the source of the screaming, getting confused and nervous when she saw nobody else but Hencken, Cathy, and Aston were in the area. She was sure there were other mechanics with them just a few moments ago, where had they gone? Maybe they had gone to find the source of the screaming?

There was another scream, and without even thinking, Noelle started to get out of the Tartarus, intending to help in any way possible.

"Stay on the Tartarus!" Hencken demanded, making her freeze at the Tartarus's hull, "We can't risk losing you."

Noelle was about to protest when more screams sounded from the entrance to Port Sheridan. Along with the screams, the clanking of armour could be heard.

She didn't have to see the soldiers to know that the Oracle Knights had come to interfere.

Noelle stood frozen in place, looking in the direction of the screams. She wanted to help, but what could she do? If she helped, she could die, and then Luke and the others wouldn't be able to get out of the core, but if she waited on the Tartarus and let everyone fight, they would…

Suddenly the Oracle Knights were swarming into the port, in their direction. She saw Aston and the others bracing themselves.

Fear flooded her system. These people were like family to her, even with the Class I vs. Class M rivalry she had gotten to know and care for Hencken and Cathy over the years. She didn't want them to get hurt. "But you'll-"

"Noelle, dear," Cathy said with a wink as she and Hencken pulled devices Noelle couldn't identify out of their pockets, "You should know better than to underestimate the elderly by now."

"Make us proud, Noelle," Aston said before closing the Tartarus's hull, effectively ending the argument.

* * *

Noelle was panicking, to say the least. It had been a half an hour since Aston had locked her in the Tartarus, and he had done something to make sure that it was locked from the outside, so she couldn't get out. She had no idea what was happening in the port, and she was getting more nervous due to the lack of noise.

For the first five minutes all she heard were the screams of the mechanics as they were slaughtered, and the clanking of armour of the Oracle Soldiers who were cutting down the people she had grown up with and, she shuddered to think about it, possibly Aston, Hencken, or Cathy. It really didn't help that although the mechanics of the city had done their best to mask the stench of rotting corpses on the Tartarus (she had been informed by Luke of what happened on the landship months ago), the smell of death still lingered slightly in the air. After those five minutes, everything became completely quiet. Noelle wondered if it had anything to do with the devices Hencken and Cathy pulled out of their pockets.

Noelle spent the entire half hour she was locked away pacing in front of the doorway, hoping that her friends had made it out of Sheridan, that Iemon and Tamara weren't hurt from what was likely an Oracle invasion in the city, hoping that the silence didn't mean that Aston, Hencken, and Cathy were hurt, or even worse…

"Oh, good. I'm glad it didn't put you to sleep too," came a muffled voice from the other side of the door.

That was Hencken's voice! So he was alive at least. Noelle stopped her pacing at pressed her ear to the door, trying to catch every word.

"It works faster on young children."

There was Cathy. Noelle heaved a sigh of relief. The young children she was referring to could only be her friends, so they must have all made it out of Sheridan. She had yet to hear Aston's voice, and she still had no idea of what was happening in Sheridan, or what became of Tamara and her grandfather.

"Then this was your work?" That was Natalia.

Noelle's nervousness faded away even more when she heard Aston's voice.

"Those Oracle ruffians tried to steal the Tartarus."

"It looks like they went into the city too," said Cathy, "How are Iemon and Tamara?"

Noelle pressed her ear harder into the cold metal of the door, she needed to hear what came next, to hear that her grandfather and Tamara were alive and well.

Except nobody said anything, and Noelle felt her insides freeze. She knew what this meant, but she didn't want to believe it. They couldn't be dead.

It was Hencken who voiced her thoughts.

"You can't mean…!"

Tears sprang to Noelle's eyes, but she held them back. Nobody had confirmed her thoughts, maybe they were still alive. She would never know if she didn't listen. But it was hard for her to focus with all the thoughts going through her head, and when did she start shaking so hard that it was difficult to stay on her feet…?

"Should you really be standing around chatting?"

Noelle put all her concentration into listening. She didn't recognize the man's voice, but it sounded cruel. She had a feeling who it was.

She heard a series of thuds, some sounding closer than others, it was like everyone in the area had been thrown by some unknown force. She started to panic again. What was going on out there?

"M-Master Van!"

So she had guessed correctly, it was Van. She had heard a lot about him from Luke and the others, but she had never actually met him.

"Spinoza, you'd side with the Oracle Knights instead of your friends?" Hencken demanded.

"…I…I…"

So the traitor, Spinoza, was with Van… He was the reason Tamara and her grandfather were most likely dead. She couldn't forgive him. Not even if he did sound ashamed of what he brought about.

"Commandant!" a female voice said.

"That was a poor performance, Legretta."

Noelle was mostly paying attention now to keep her mind off of her grandfather's likely death.

"My apologies," Legretta replied, "We'll take care of them at once."

"Luke! No!" Jade shouted, Noelle knew Luke must have prepared to attack.

"Why?" Luke demanded.

"Right now, our priority is stopping the core. We're going to the Tartarus."

Noelle knew Jade was doing the right thing by stopping Luke from attacking, but part of her hated him for suggesting they leave Aston, Hencken, and Cathy alone with a person like Van. They would be killed for sure.

There were footsteps, and she knew everyone was making a mad dash for the Tartarus. Noelle reluctantly pulled her ear away from the door, she need to make room for them.

"That's too dangerous!" she heard Tear's muffled shout, tears started spilling down Noelle's cheeks as she realized the three elderly mechanics must have been attempting to hold Van and Legretta back.

"We're not going anywhere," came Hencken's voice, "This happened because Spinoza betrayed Class I."

"We may be old, but we can at least serve as obstacles!" Cathy shouted, "You go on to the Tartarus!"

"Our comrade caused this, we'll atone for it."

More footsteps. They were getting closer. Noelle hurriedly tried to wipe away her tears, she didn't want anybody to see her so torn up. Everybody in the group had problems of their own, she didn't want to weigh them down with her own.

A few moments later the door opened, and the group hurried in, looking battered but for the most part okay.

Jade closed the door the second they were all inside, but he wasn't fast enough to prevent Noelle from getting a glimpse of the port.

Her breath caught in her throat as she took it all in. Hencken and Cathy's bloody, torn up bodies at Van's feet, his sword dripping their blood on the ground. Aston's body a few feet away from them, blood trickling from the side of his head.

Her gaze was fixed on the same spot even after the door was closed.

Dead. All of them. The people who raised her, and taught her everything she knew about flying and fon machinery. They were gone. She didn't even know if Ginji was still alive – she desperately hoped that he was. Without him she would be completely alone.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she slowly turned her head to look at the person. Luke was smiling sadly at her, and Noelle noticed that the others were watching her nervously; sad looks on their faces as well.

She couldn't hold in her tears any more. She fell to her knees and her tears fell fast and thick from her face. She almost hoped they would leave her to cry by herself.

The girls in the group were quick to try and comfort her, and she knew that these people genuinely cared about her. She wasn't all alone. She had her friends.

It was Jade who finally pulled everyone away from the doorway and to the bridge of the Tartarus, but everyone was still depressed about what had just occurred. Alex and Natalia had to help Noelle along with them; she was too shaky to walk on her own. Jade entered the bridge by himself, leaving the others outside.

"Why did this happen?" Anise demanded when they got to the bridge, "They didn't do anything to deserve this…"

"I failed to protect my people…" Natalia said quietly. Noelle noticed through her own teary eyes that Natalia was crying as well.

"I wasn't strong enough," Luke said, he sounded like he was resisting the urge to cry. He punched a nearby wall in his frustration, "Damn it!"

"There's no time for wallowing in depression," Tear said, her voice calm, "We still have to stop the core."

Noelle knew she wasn't trying to be insensitive, but that fact didn't help much.

She was caught off guard when Luke grabbed the front of Tear's vest.

"Do you really have to say it like that?" he demanded.

"Grieving here won't accomplish anything," she reasoned, "The Colonel is busy preparing for this operation all by himself. Don't forget that." She grabbed Luke's hands and pushed them away from her before going into the bridge to join Jade.

"…Her eyes were welling up."

Everyone turned their attentions to Guy.

"What?" Luke asked.

"The one who killed them was Tear's own brother. I wonder which of us," he motioned to everyone but Noelle, "really wants to cry the most."

Nobody said anything for a few moments.

"Akzeriuth is where we drop to the core, right?" Luke finally asked, "…I'm going to the bridge to help Jade."

He entered the bridge without another word.

"We should go help out too," Guy said to the remaining group members.

"You're right…" Alex agreed, "We can't afford to lose any more time, can we? Are you coming, Noelle?"

She nodded before wiping her eyes. "Yes."

"Will you be alright?" Ion asked her, smiling kindly at her.

"Yes," Noelle repeated, "I just need something else to focus on."

Jade and Tear were waiting for them inside the bridge, Jade behind the main control panel.

"We're an hour behind schedule," he said as they entered the room, "We can't allow any more delays."

As if on cue, an alarm went off, startling everyone.

"Wh-what's that?" Luke asked, looking around the room for any signs of danger.

"An intruder!" Tear exclaimed.

"Don't tell me it's Van?" Guy asked, scanning the room as if expecting Van to pop up out of nowhere.

"They really don't want us to stop the core," Ion said calmly. He was probably the calmest person in the room.

"I wonder why…" Alex said.

"So do I," Anise agreed, "But right now, we've got an intruder to worry about. What do we do?"

"We don't have any choice," Jade explained over the panic, "We'll get rid of them after we breach the core."

"Even without this we barely have any time!" Natalia exclaimed, "And we still have five days to travel to Akzeriuth."

* * *

The days spent traveling went by slowly. There was nothing really that could be done about the intruder, who hadn't shown themselves since the alarm went off. The group spent all their time together in the bridge, for the most part quietly. Noelle suspected that they were also thinking about what had occurred in Sheridan.

It had been three days since they had left the port, and it was all Noelle could think about. How had Tamara and her grandfather died? Were they slaughtered the same way Hencken and Cathy were?

She tried to shake the thoughts out of her head, but they always came back. The silence between the group didn't exactly help either. Noelle wished she had a distraction of some kind.

"Everything's changed," Alex said suddenly, as if she had heard Noelle's thoughts. Everyone turned their attention to her. She was addressing everybody, but she wasn't making eye contact with any of them, not even Guy and Luke, who were both sitting with her. When she noticed everyone looking at her, she looked up at them, "Hasn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Noelle asked. There had been so many changes lately, small like Alex's new hair colour, to significant like the attack on Sheridan, that it was unclear what Alex meant by change.

"Everything seems more real now," Alex replied, "Even when Akzeriuth fell, or when we were evacuating the citizens from Engeve, it didn't feel like this."

Everyone stared at her, waiting for her to continue. Noelle was happy to notice she wasn't the only one who was confused - Luke, Natalia, and Anise looked lost as well.

"We just watched Van kill two defenceless, elderly people without hesitation. Because they stood in his way," Alex continued. Noelle felt sorrow well up in her again, but she had run out of tears to cry long ago.

"He also killed thousands of people in Akzeriuth," Jade replied, as if surprised Alex was just realizing how serious Van was with his plans. Noelle noticed Luke shift uncomfortably in his spot on the floor next to Alex at the mention of Akzeriuth.

"I know," Alex sighed, "But it's just hitting me now how dangerous this whole situation is. Van really means business. I thought maybe he could be persuaded for Tear's sake, but after watching that…"

"What my brother is doing is awful, and he needs to be stopped. At this point, I doubt he can be persuaded." Tear was doing her best to keep a straight face, but it was clear that she was upset about having to possibly kill her brother.

If anything, the subject just seemed to depress everyone more.

"We've all changed too…" Anise mumbled, drawing attention to her. She was sitting on the ground, hugging Tokunaga to her chest, Ion seated next to her. "Something about all of us has changed. When we all first got together, Luke was just a spoiled, rich brat, Tear was an Oracle Knight who happened to be Van's sister, the Colonel was just a Malkuth Colonel, Guy was just a servant, Natalia was an annoying princess, and Alex was the Duke's daughter." She said all of this in one breath. "But now we're all someone else. Luke turned out to be a replica, Tear turned out to be from the Qliphoth, the Colonel created fomicry, Guy's really a count from Hod, Natalia's not really the princess by blood, and Alex turned out to be from Hod too and has a sister that's a God-General."

"And what about you, Anise?" Ion asked.

"Me?" Anise replied, suddenly looking really nervous, "Um, well… Nothing's really changed about me, except I'm now a former Fon Master Guardian." She laughed nervously for a while.

"You're not hiding anything from us, are you, Anise?" Jade asked, watching her closely.

"Who, me?" Anise replied in a falsely innocent voice, "No way. The only thing I'm hiding from you is my weight."

She curled up back into her original position with Tokunaga, looking more depressed than before.

"…Why don't we all try and cheer up?" Ion asked, as if it was that simple, "We won't be able to focus on getting the job done if we're all depressed."

"I agree," Jade said, taking his eyes off of Anise, "Perhaps a change of subject would help?"

Alex nodded, "Actually, I have been wondering about something…" Everyone turned their attention to her. She turned to Guy, "You said your mother's name was Eugenie Cecille, right?"

Guy looked confused by her question, "Yeah, why?"

"Would that mean you're related to General Cecille somehow?"

"Oh. Yeah, she's my cousin." He still looked a little confused about why Alex brought it up. "But she doesn't know we're cousins. Why are you asking me this now?"

"I don't know…" Alex admitted, "I was just wondering, and Jade called for a change of subject…"

It was quiet again for a few moments.

"What do you think that intruder's doing?" Anise asked quietly.

"Who knows?" Luke replied, "They could be doing anything."

* * *

The last two days went by even more slowly than the other three if it was possible. Noelle was slowly getting a grip on herself again. If she didn't have the five days in the Tartarus to do so, she didn't know how she would get the others out of the core safely in the Albiore; her mind would have been too preoccupied to fly.

Everyone had basically forgotten about the intruder because of the lack of trouble from them. Noelle found herself thinking that it could possibly have been a false alarm, but the sensible part of her disagreed.

She didn't have much time to think about what they could possibly be doing though. The time had finally come to enter the core.

"Everyone take your seats," Jade ordered, "We're starting."

They all did as they were told, and Jade began pressing buttons.

Noelle felt a lurch as the Tartarus stopped completely, then the feeling that she was floating came, though she hardly noticed it after flying the Albiore for so long, and then came the feeling that they were slowly falling.

For a few moments all she saw out the window was the miasma of the Qliphoth, then they were diving into the sea of mud, making a path by using the fonic shield that Aston had made.

You could very easily describe the core in one word.

Colourful.

There were bright colours everywhere. It was almost as if the core was entirely made up of rainbows.

"Are we there?" Luke finally asked.

"So it would seem," Jade replied.

Guy looked like he was trying hard to remember something, "That thing we saw for a second there…"

Noelle thought for a moment about what he could possibly be talking about, but she couldn't think of anything.

"What is it, Guy?" Natalia asked, "I did see something flash right before we dove into the core."

"I vaguely remember seeing it when I was a kid in Hod… If I could just…"

"We'll worry about that later," Jade said, "The preparations here are done. Let's get out."

Noelle knew her part was coming up.

Aston's last words echoed in her head.

_"Make us proud, Noelle."_

Noelle vowed to herself to make sure the others got out of there alive. Her grandfather obviously thought these people were worth dying for, she wasn't going to let his or any of the others' sacrifices go to waste.

The group wasted no time in getting out of the bridge; they knew they were running out of time.

"What happened to the fonic glyph that Iemon told us about?" Anise asked as they made it to the area on the deck that the glyph was supposed to be. She looked around and noticed that the glyph was, in fact, gone.

"I erased it for you."

* * *

**_A/N: And I've made it to thirty chapters! It's all because you guys have kept me going with your reviews! Thanks a million!_**

**_Back to the story: It's always kind of bugged me how we get nothing on how Noelle felt about the deaths of Class I and Class M. I mean, Iemon was her grandfather, and I'm sure Tamara and Aston played a big part in raising her and Ginji as well._**


	31. The Core

_**A/N: Note that Sync's POV will be changed to someone else's eventually. I feel like adding his POV was a mistake and didn't flow well with the rest of the story, despite the fact that I am proud of how it came out. :P**_

* * *

_Chapter 31: The Core_

Five days Sync had been waiting on board the Tartarus for the chance to finally kill those idiots. Granted, he would die with them, but that was a small price to pay for the chance to finally set them straight.

Upon boarding the Tartarus, the intruder alarm went off. He had immediately prepared himself to battle them if they came out to look for him, but they never did. A terrible mistake on their part, and they would pay dearly for it.

After waiting a couple hours to make sure they weren't coming out to find him, Sync set to erasing the fonic glyph that would allow them to leave the core. Van had other plans, and in the end it wouldn't matter if they succeeded in silencing the core, all that mattered was Sync making sure the group didn't make it out of there alive. They would most definitely get in the way of Van's new plans if they survived.

Once Sync finished with erasing the glyph, he chose a place to hide and wait until they were in the core. He didn't care if he had to die along with his enemies for his mission to be complete. It's not like he was particularly fond of life anyway.

Being cast aside like a piece of useless trash tended to give a person that outlook.

Not like the _perfect _Fon Master Ion had anything to worry about there.

The time went by impossibly slowly, and Sync had nothing else to do but wait.

He knew his time was drawing near when the Tartarus suddenly lurched and began to descend into the Qliphoth, going through the sea of mud and miasma and then down into the core. Once they were stationary in the core, Sync got up from his lying position, and prepared for the appearance of the people he hated most. This was saying a lot, considering he hated everyone.

He smirked as they all appeared in the doorway of the bridge. Now he could finally have some fun.

His smug look faltered as he saw the Fon Master with them. If there was anyone he hated, it was him. His being _perfect _was the reason Sync was cast aside. And yet the naïve fool couldn't even open a _door _without collapsing from exhaustion.

"What happened to the fonic glyph Iemon told us about?" the brat with pigtails asked.

"I erased it for you," Sync said as he came out of his hiding place.

"Noelle, hurry to the Albiore," the Necromancer ordered upon noticing Sync, not taking his eyes off of him.

The blonde girl looked reluctant at first, but did as she was told. Sync let her board the flight craft without interfering. It wouldn't matter if she were away from him or not, everyone here was going to die with him, whether he killed them himself, or if the pressure neutralizer stopped working and they were all flattened into human pancakes before he could finish them off.

"So you were the intruder," the red-headed replica stated obviously, approaching Sync.

Sync laughed at them, "Pity you were all too foolish to come and find me when the alarm sounded. You'll die for that mistake whether I get the pleasure of killing you or not. There's no glyph to help get you out of here now." He smirked at the nervous looks on their faces.

"Can't we redraw the glyph?" one of them asked the colonel with urgency in her voice. It took a moment for Sync to recognize her. Her hair and clothes had changed, but she was definitely the other Fabre brat he had fought in the Zao Ruins all that time ago.

"Yes," the Necromancer replied, "If we can kill him so he doesn't interfere, there may be a way to redraw it."

Sync's smirk faltered, but then grew wider than before, "Unfortunately for you, I have orders to prevent that from happening. You won't get away; you'll die in the sludge here."

He dashed directly at them, not giving them any opportunity to draw their weapons. They'd learn the hard way why he was called 'The Tempest'.

They all managed to get out of the way before he made impact with the area they were standing just a few moments before. Lucky for them too, if any of them had still been standing there, they probably would have died.

Sync smirked again as the area he had hit with his Stone Dragon Assent was shrouded with dust. It was better this way anyway; it wouldn't be any fun if they all died too easily.

As the dust cloud faded, the group came into view again. They all had their weapons drawn now, and Sync noted with amusement that the Fon Master already looked exhausted. It was pathetic how he got so tired just from being dragged such a short distance. How he was named the most successful of them, Sync would never know.

The pig-tailed brat seemed to notice Sync looking in the Fon Master's direction, so she positioned herself and her giant doll in front of him to protect him, fierce determination on her face. Sync almost laughed, the weakling was hardly worth protecting, but Sync decided to humour the girl. Without warning, he ran right at the two of them.

The girl braced herself, readying her doll to strike him when he came close enough. Sync knew this was coming, and when the doll's arm was starting to come down on him, he simply got out of the way.

To the naked eye it seemed like he disappeared, but in reality, Sync was just too fast. He saw her reaction play out in slow motion, and before she could ask where he went, he reappeared at her side and delivered a swift and powerful kick to her doll's head, sending it and the girl flying. He smirked in satisfaction as they hit the ground and the girl fell off her precious doll and continued to roll a few more feet.

"Anise!"

Sync had almost forgotten about the Fon Master beside him. He didn't bother trying to interfere as he ran toward the now unconscious girl, the princess already at her side using a healing arte.

He barely had time to react when he noticed all three of their swordsmen running at him. He quickly jumped over their heads, using the same speed he had when dealing with the brat before them. He appeared behind the blonde before he could even notice what was happening, and before the other two saw where he went, Guy was sent flying in similar fashion to Anise.

"Guy!" the now-brunette woman shouted before blocking another of Sync's kicks with her sword, though the force of it knocked her over. She would have had plenty of time to dodge if she had kept her eyes on Sync rather than trying to run to the blonde's side.

They were all such idiots. How could they expect to win if they were all wearing their emotions on their sleeves? He had suspected the old peoples' deaths would soften them up a little, but not this much. It was pathetic.

He was about to give the finishing blow to the woman beneath him, when the replica came running at him again, this time actually managing to catch him off guard. He had just backed out of the way when the red-head swung his sword in the place he had been.

Unfortunately, the instant he had regained his footing, he was encased by a tornado of flames. He had forgotten about the Necromancer.

He stood perfectly still in the flames, doing his best not to touch the fire or cough from the smoke. It was unbelievably hot, and his metal mask began to burn his face slightly, but he did not take it off. It would be humiliating for them to find out.

Eventually the fire died out, and he noticed instantly that the young girl was back on her doll, ready to fight, and the blonde was back on his feet as well.

Sync sneered, "There's no point in healing them. I'll make the Tartarus your grave!"

He dashed at them again, but they were expecting it this time. They all scattered and started their separate ways of attacking. The casters set about casting and the three swordsmen were doing a pretty good job of keeping Sync away from them.

"Perhaps we should all die together then?" the Necromancer suggested, clearly amused by what was going on.

Sync laughed cruelly as he dodged yet another attack from the replica, "That's not a bad idea, Necromancer!"

"Yeah, I'll pass on the mutual suicide thing," the blonde said as he swung his blade at Sync again. Sync noted with a scowl that he was going for his mask. He remembered briefly that he knew what Sync's face looked like; he had seen it in Choral Castle. "I'm not ready to die just yet." Sync saw his blue eyes flash briefly in the direction of the brunette and his smirk came back. He knew how to stop him from going after his mask.

He jumped over the girl's sword as she swung at his midsection, and deftly landed a blow to her ribs, satisfied when he felt a couple of them break beneath his foot. The girl was thrown away from him by the force and landed with a thud a few feet away.

He knew his plan had worked when he heard the blonde call her name and run past him, towards the girl, worry on his face.

He had forgotten about the replica, and was reminded of him only when he saw his sword coming at him, he would have seen it sooner had his mask not blocked his peripherals. Sync managed to get out of the way just in time to avoid a fatal attack, but the damned replica managed to slice his arm open. He turned around quickly and saw the enraged look on the red-head's face. Apparently he finally meant buisness; it definitely took long enough for him to finally get his head out of his ass.

Sync was dodging his attacks easily at first, and then it started to get a little harder. The gash in his arm was deep, and he was losing a lot of blood. His vision was getting blurry, and it was harder to choose which way to dodge when he was suddenly seeing two of the replica before him, who was now swinging his sword at him furiously and without any pauses.

The replica thrusted his sword at Sync's head, and he dodged just in time. However, with the slowed reflexes, the tip of the sword caught the edge of Sync's mask and it came off. Sync watched with dread as it clattered to the floor at the replica's feet.

"Damn," he hissed as he fell to one knee. He made an attempt to cover his face, but he knew because of the sudden silence and the lack of movement around him that everyone had seen his face.

'_Cat's out of the bag,' _he thought bitterly.

"It's just as I thought," the Fon Master said quietly, Sync let his hand fall from his face and scanned the group for reactions. They all wore the same expressions of shock, except for the Necromancer, the Fon Master, and the blonde, who was kneeling next to the brunette; Sync noted with amusement that he was glaring daggers at him. Even Van's sister was focussing on healing the brunette, she was trying not to look surprised, but she was failing.

"You are also a replica of the Fon Master," Ion continued, causing everyone but the Necromancer, who kept his eyes firmly on Sync to make sure he didn't attack again, to turn their heads in his direction, looking even more shocked if it was possible.

Sync almost laughed, he wanted to know what they thought about their precious Fon Master being a pathetic piece of replica trash like himself.

…

"Wait!" Guy said, "What do you mean 'also'?"

Ion paused, choosing his words carefully. He felt ad about lying to his friends all this time, he didn't know how to explain himself, "I'm Fon Master Ion's seventh replica… The final one."

"You're a replica?" Luke asked, shock all over his face. Ion felt bad for lying to him and Anise about this particularly.

"No way…" Anise said quietly, "Ion…"

"I'm sorry, Anise," he replied sadly, "It's only been about two years since I was born."

"Two years…" Anise repeated, and then realization dawned on her face, "That's when I became one of your Fon Master Guardians… Wait, is that why Arietta was reassigned? Because you didn't have any memories of the past."

"It would make sense," Alex said as she got up, feeling her ribs gingerly. Guy and Tear stood up beside her, and Guy maintaining a bit of a distance between himself and the girls, though Ion noticed he was closer to them than he would normally be. "Thanks, Tear," Alex said. Tear nodded at her before turning to face Ion as well, as if imploring him to go on.

"Yes," Ion replied to Anise, looking away from everyone, "The original Ion was sick, near death. But there was no successor, so Mohs and Van used fomicry."

Sync finally spoke up again, but he sounded like he was in pain, most likely from the gash on his arm and the loss of blood that came with it, "…You had the closest abilities to the original. Unlike us trash."

"Don't call yourself that," Ion tried. Even if he was an enemy, Sync wasn't trash to him; none of his fellow replicas were. He was just like them, he just happened to have closer abilities to the original than them; it didn't mean anything.

"That's what I am," Sync protested, with a look that said he would kill anyone who said otherwise, "My powers were weak, so I was cast alive into the mouth of the Mt. Zaleho volcano. A replica that can't serve as a replacement is nothing but garbage…"

"Don't say that!" Luke demanded, "We may be replicas, but we're still living beings!"

Sync shook his head, "I'm not interested in the naïve babbling of a replica who has people who need him."

Sync got up slowly and unsteadily, taking a moment to keep himself steady. After he had, he slowly began walking backwards, towards the edge of the Tartarus. Nobody made any real attempt to stop him, and Ion understood why. He had just severely injured almost half of them. But he and Ion were the same; he wouldn't just let him fall to his death without at least trying to stop him.

"Don't talk like that," Ion said, approaching him with his hand extended. Sync froze in his place at the edge of the Tartarus when he saw what Ion was trying to do, "Escape from here with us! You and I are the same!"

Sync raised his hand, and for one brief instant Ion thought he was going to accept the offer, but Sync smacked Ion's hand away.

"No we're not," he replied through gritted teeth, "I'm only alive so Van can use me. In the end, only those of us who are useful are kept alive out of pity…"

Sync closed his eyes and fell backwards to his death. Ion stared with wide eyes at the place where Sync was only seconds ago, thinking of his last words.

Anise was by his side before his mind could fully register what had just happened.

"Ion, please don't cry…"

He was confused by her words, he'd never cried before, "I'm not crying," he replied with more force than he had meant to.

She looked taken aback by his response, "But… Those tears…"

Ion lifted his hand to his face and noticed his cheeks were indeed wet. He was crying after all.

"It's like losing a brother…" Natalia quietly said from behind him.

"I guess I was sad…" Ion muttered, a little disappointed in his lack of a better adjective, "This is the first time I've ever cried. I understand now… All this time, I had it wrong…"

He was thankful nobody asked him what he meant by that.

"We're out of time," Jade finally said, a note of urgency in his voice.

"How are we supposed to redraw the glyph?" Guy asked as everyone was snapped back into the reality of how dangerous their situation was.

"I'll draw it again," Jade replied with a dark expression, "But a circle of this scale will require a significant amount of concentration. Luke, Tear, I'll need your assistance."

They asked no question about this and everyone but the three of them stood back and let them work, watching anxiously all the while.

Jade opened all of his fon slots and created a mass of fonons, a shining ball of light that Luke used Mieu's fire breathing on to move around. Since Jade was focussing on the mass of fonons, Tear was the one who instructed him on which direction he was to push the fonon mass.

Everyone became more anxious as they watched, and they really began to panic as Luke accidentally made Mieu push the fonons in the wrong direction, making them start over. They were running out of time, and by this point Tear was having a hard time hiding her anxiety as she told Luke which direction he needed to go.

They cut it pretty close, but they finished the glyph with a few minutes to spare. The second it was done, Jade ordered everyone onto the Albiore, although there was no point, seeing as everyone was already halfway there when he made the order.

But unfortunately for them, luck wasn't on their side. Just as they were reaching the Albiore, Luke collapsed, holding his head in his hands. It was clear he was having another of his headaches.

"We don't have time for this," Ion heard Jade say.

"What, so it's Luke's fault he always has his headaches at _impossibly bad times_?" Alex asked sarcastically, "The colonel's right, we don't have time. Can we just bring him on the Albiore and somebody can heal him or something while we're safe?"

Tear nodded and went to help Luke up, as he looked like he was in a lot of pain. The second Tear made contact with him though, she began to glow, and even stranger, she began to float.

Everyone stopped in their tracks at this strange occurrence, they all seemed to forget just how much danger they were all in as they watched Tear.

"The pain's fading away…" Luke muttered before he noticed what was happening with Tear.

"_Luke, my isofon, I can finally speak to you," _the words were coming from Tear's mouth, but it was clear she wasn't the one speaking right now. It was her voice, but it sounded distorted at the same time.

Luke was brought to his senses by the voice, "Tear?" he looked up and his eyes widened in shock as he noticed that Tear was floating, "No… You're not Tear."

"_Your kind knows me as Lorelei."_

Ion's eyes widened. Lorelei's existence wasn't certain until this moment, Jade was obviously thinking along the same lines.

Even Jade's eyes were widened with shock, "The aggregate sentience of the Seventh Fonon! It's existence was hypothetical, but…"

"_I am the Seventh Fonon itself. And you, Luke, your fonon frequency is the same as mine. You and the other you are both my perfect isofons. I am you. That is why I ask this of you._ _Right now, something enormous is draining my power."_

Ion was completely lost by this point, and by the looks of it, the others were too. Of course he knew what Lorelei was, but what was it talking about? Did Luke know?

"_It is shaking the core and causing the Sephiroth to go out of control. Your actions have quieted the core and stabilized the Sephiroth, but as long as I am trapped here…"_

Just as suddenly as it had come, the glow on Tear's body faded, and she fell to the ground. Would they ever know what Lorelei was about to say?

Luke was quickly beside Tear, holding her up in a sitting position as she rubbed her head.

"I feel a little dizzy…" she muttered, "What happened?"

"It's dangerous here," Jade interrupted, clearly tired of all the distractions, "We need to get on the Albiore _now_."

He left no room for argument, and finally everyone was on the Albiore, reassuring Noelle that they were all unharmed and explaining to Tear what had happened as Noelle flew them out of the core.

Despite Tear's insisting that she was alright, they all agreed that their next stop would be Belkend. They all wanted a professional opinion on her wellbeing. Everyone knew Tear was too stubborn to show any signs of being in pain.

Ion briefly remembered the Uniceros in the Tataroo Valley telling them that Tear had miasma in her body. That was something he wanted to check out as well.


	32. Side Effect

_Chapter 32: Side-Effects_

"She has miasma inside of her body?"

"Yes. It's fused with her blood fonons, and now the contaminated blood fonons in her body can't escape. It's primarily Seventh Fonons that have accumulated."

They had gone immediately to Belkend after Noelle got them all safely out of the core. The trip was quiet, as everyone was still thinking about the events that occurred with Sheridan and Sync. Alex was honestly amazed Noelle could focus on flying the Albiore after what happened to Classes I and M.

Once they got to Belkend, Noelle told them she would wait for them on the Albiore, saying she wanted to be alone for a while. Nobody had argued this, they all understood that Noelle had never actually had the chance to mourn the loss of Iemon and the others with all that happened, and they'd made their way to Governor Viridian's residence inside the city to ask if they could get Tear a full body exam.

Since Lorelei had taken over Tear's body, it was obvious that she was feeling particularly unwell, though she was trying to hide it. She was moving around more slowly, all around she just seemed weaker, and in constant pain. Everyone was worried about her.

Viridian had informed them that he had already heard about the deaths of the Classes, and that His Majesty and the Duke issued formal complaints against Daath, to which Ion had apologized for. Viridian then explained Mohs insisted that Van separated from the Oracle Knights and carried out the slaughter on his own, and that the Duke no longer had any connection to Van. Finally he told them that Daath no longer had power inside Belkend, which worked out well for the group.

Since Belkend was no longer under Daath's control, Luke asked Viridian if they could get that exam done on her. Viridian had no problems with this, and told them to go see Doctor Shu in the lab.

The others had waited outside the small clinic inside the lab while Tear was having her exam done. It had taken about an hour before Shu let everyone inside and informed them of her condition.

"So then she absorbed Seventh Fonons that were contaminated with the miasma…" Luke summed up.

"Quite a lot. They are weakening her internal organs," Doctor Shu replied while flipping through the pages on his clipboard as if looking for some information. He finally landed on a page before continuing, adjusting his glasses as he read, "She said that the fon machines called passage rings responded to her. Dawn Age machinery generally contains large amounts of Seventh Fonons."

"So when we lower the land, the miasma flows into Tear from the passage ring?" Jade asked.

"That's the only answer I see," Shu replied solemnly, placing his clipboard on his desk, "If she continues, she's not likely to survive."

"Isn't there anything we can do?…" Alex asked.

"We can give her a medicine to suppress the effects," Shu replied, "But she'll still get worse if she continues to lower the land."

"Can't you cure it?" Luke demanded, "I use the Seventh Fonon too, but I'm fine!"

"She's absorbed over one hundred times what a Seventh Fonist would in a lifetime."

"Can you give us a little more detail?" Ion asked.

"I have something I'd like to ask as well," Jade said, "Let's split up here."

They all stuck around for a little while longer, but after Jade and Ion got into their conversation with Shu, Alex found her head hurting from listening to all the medical and other scientific terms that she couldn't even begin to comprehend. Since she couldn't understand the conversation anyway, she decided to slip out the door and take a walk around the lab. She hoped she wouldn't get lost, since the place was more or less a maze and she didn't exactly have the greatest sense of direction.

She thought this would be the perfect time to try and make sense of what had happened in the past few days.

"Hey!"

Alex turned around to see Guy was following her.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her.

Alex shook her head, "No, just trying to wrap my head around things. I am worried about Tear now though. And Noelle too."

Guy nodded and they both continued walking.

"What do you think about…well, everything?" Alex asked, hoping he might be able to shed some light on some of her questions.

He shrugged, "I don't even know. Everything's been happening so fast, I haven't really had time to think about it."

Alex nodded, she understood that.

"I had a feeling Sync was a replica of the original Ion though."

Alex turned her head to look at him, a confused look on her face.

"I saw his face in Choral Castle, before you and Natalia joined us," he explained, "I had no idea our Ion was a replica of the original too though."

"And what about Iemon and the others? How are we going to help Noelle get through this?

Guy sighed, "I'm not sure about that either. It's really too bad they died, and I can't forgive Van for being the cause of all this. But they died to help us lower the land, we can't let them down. As for Noelle, I guess we'll just have to be ready to help her in any way we can."

"But Tear…"

"I have a feeling she'll still want to go through with it. It's just how Tear is."

"That's true… It'd be nice if there was some sort of cure though."

"In an ideal world… You heard Shu, there's not a lot we can do about it other than give her medicine. In the end it's her decision, we can't force her to either stop or go on."

Alex thought about his words for a moment. As usual, he was right. As she was thinking about it, she heard footsteps behind them, so she stopped in her tracks and turned around to see who it was. Guy noticed this and turned as well.

It was Luke, with Mieu floating along beside him. He had his head down as he walked, all in all he looked depressed.

"Luke?" Alex asked as he came closer, "Shouldn't you be with Tear?"

Luke raised his head, a confused look on his face as he approached them, "Jade said the same thing. He told me to go to her, I don't get why. I thought she might want to be alone right now, since that's how she usually is," he scratched his head, "Should I really go see her?"

Alex shook her head, "You're an idiot, Luke."

"Wh-what? Hey!"

Guy laughed at his reaction, "I thought it was pretty obvious."

"I guess not," Alex shrugged.

"What are you two talking about? What's supposed to be obvious?"

"Nothing," Alex sighed, "Just go see Tear."

"I was going to," Luke said irritably as he glared at her, "But then you called me over."

"Then go see her now," Alex replied with an eyebrow raised. If he _was_ just going to see her, why did he leave the clinic in the first place? And the direction he was headed in was away from the clinic, not toward it. He was no Jade when it came to lying, that was for sure.

"Not until you apologize for calling me an idiot!"

"You really want to worry about that right now? Don't you have more important things to worry about?"

Luke didn't reply. Instead he crossed his arms and glared down at her.

Alex sighed, "Fine, I'm sorry. Now go see Tear."

"I think we should go see her too, Master!" Mieu squeaked.

Luke glared at her a moment longer before stalking off in the direction of the clinic, Mieu following him.

"He's not that bright, is he?" Guy asked as they watched his retreating figure.

Alex shook her head again, "No, he's really not… But then again, he is technically seven, so it sort of makes sense that he doesn't understand why everyone's saying he should go see Tear."

"Would that be our fault then?" Guy asked, Alex turned her head to look at him, "We did kind of raise him."

"Well, I dunno," Alex shrugged, "Did you ever have 'the talk' with him?"

She found herself entertained by his reaction to her words.

"Wh-what?" he spluttered, his face turning red.

"Well I certainly wasn't going to bring it up with him!" Alex said, crossing her arms and putting all her weight on one leg. She was failing to conceal the grin on her face as she watched Guy struggle to regain some composure.

"Why would I have to?" Guy demanded.

She tilted her head at him, "So you didn't talk to him about it then? That explains a lot…" She placed a finger on her chin, "Maybe one of his tutors talked to him about it? I mean, he had to have asked _somebody _where babies come from…"

Guy groaned, "Do we really have to talk about this?"

Alex laughed, she was really only continuing the conversation to bug him.

"Okay, fine. Consider the subject changed."

"Good…"

"So… Since we did more or less raise Luke, would that make us like his parents or something?"

Guy scratched the back of his head, his face was still a little red, "I guess. But the thought of having _Luke_ as a son is a little…"

"…Disappointing?" Alex suggested.

He raised an eyebrow, "I was going to say weird."

"Right… Dropping the subject now?"

"Let's never speak of this entire conversation again," Guy agreed, turning his head away from her slightly. She could see the remains of his blush from their earlier topic of talking to Luke about sex and knew that was the only topic he really never wanted to talk about again.

"Deal," she smiled and extended her hand, "Shake on it?"

She'd meant it as a joke, and so her eyes widened in shock when he actually reached out and shook her hand after a brief moment's hesitation.

Guy smirked at the look on her face, "Is something wrong?" he asked innocently.

Alex decided that Jade was starting to rub off on him. She didn't like the thought, so she shook it out of her head.

"You - You're actually shaking my hand!" she replied, her wide eyes locked on his hand and hers. He was hardly even shaking, like he would normally be at this point. It was almost hard to believe he had ever had a phobia.

Guy let go of her hand, "Yeah, well I have been getting better. I've been able to get closer to girls lately - you should know, I did comfort you in Grand Chokmah before the Peace Treaty."

"But that was different!" Alex protested, "You _have_ been able to get closer to girls lately, but you've only been able to come into contact with any of us when we were in trouble or something. Like Anise when she was falling off that cliff, or in Grand Chokmah, when I was in desperate need to be comforted. You haven't touched any of us since."

Guy rolled his eyes at her, "You say it like it's a bad thing that I'm getting better."

"No!" she replied, mentally hitting herself when she realized she was blushing this time, "It's not, it just took me by surprise…"

Guy chuckled a little, "Well, if it makes you feel any less shocked, I was only really able to shake your hand because I was focussing on the fact that we're both wearing gloves, so we didn't technically touch."

"...Really?"

"Yeah."

"Cheater."

Guy laughed, "Excuse me? How am I a cheater, exactly?"

"I don't know. It just _sounds _like you're cheating somehow!"

"Okay…" Guy replied slowly_, _looking a little confused_, _"I don't even know how to argue with that logic."

It was Alex's turn to roll her eyes, "Oh, shut up."

There was an awkward silence as they started to walk again.

"So…" Guy finally said, "Now that you've confronted the Duke, how are you coming to terms with everything?"

"Oh, I think I've pretty much come to terms with it. I thought the new hair colour would be enough, but I'm glad Anise suggested the whole 'new outfit' thing. I didn't think it would help much, but it actually has. And the thought of not having to go back to Baticul is helping too." She paused for a moment, "That reminds me, are we going to tell the others we'll be living together?"

Guy shrugged, "Sometime. But we all have more important things to worry about right now. And to be honest, the thought of telling Anise kind of terrifies me…"

Alex laughed slightly as she thought about how often Anise had been tackling him lately, "Yeah, that's fair."

Guy laughed with her quietly, "Right… So listen, I was thinking, since we'll be living together anyway, and I have been getting better with my phobia, as you know…"

Alex found herself blushing, but willed herself not to look at him, was he really about to suggest what she thought he was?

"I was wondering if-"

"Ah, there you two are."

The two of them turned their attention to Jade, who seemed to have just materialized out of thin air.

"We're all meeting in the clinic. I believe Tear's made her decision," he smiled amusedly at their shocked and embarrassed faces, "Did I interrupt something?"

"No," Guy answered, too quickly for it to sound believable. He cleared his throat before turning around and starting to walk back in the direction of the clinic, "No, you didn't interrupt anything, should we go then?"

"Al-alright..." Alex replied before following him, Jade falling in step with her.

"I see," Jade said, a smirk on his face, "Well, then I guess I won't have to remind you of what your priorities are?"

Neither of them responded. Alex wondered how much of their conversation Jade had heard.

When they entered the clinic, everyone else was already there.

"Thank you," Tear was saying as Shu handed her a small case of medicine.

"Please take care," he told her, "Don't push yourself."

"So now we get back to lowering the land…" Luke said quietly, avoiding looking at Tear, who was beside him. So Guy was right in saying she'd continue to lower the land.

"Where are we going next?" Alex asked.

"Yes," Natalia agreed, "The regions with Sephiroth to which we haven't yet gone are Padamiya, Radessia, and Sylvana, right?"

"And then there's the Absorption Gate and Radiation Gate on top of those," Guy added.

"Where are those?" Luke asked him.

"The Absorption Gate is northeast of Keterburg," Guy replied, "And I've heard the Radiation Gate is on an island far south of Baticul."

Jade adjusted his glasses, "However, those are the largest Sephiroth, so we'll save them for later. For now, we need to locate the passage rings for the remaining Sephiroth."

"There are researchers from Yulia City here," Tear suggested, and Alex noticed that she already seemed to have some of her energy back, and she wasn't so pale anymore. At least the medicine seemed to be working. "Let's ask them about the locations."

"But…" Anise tried quietly, "Are you really okay, Tear?"

She nodded and smiled at Anise, "Yes. The medicine's working. I don't feel any pain."

Since every room in the building looked the same, they had a little trouble finding the researcher. They had checked three different rooms before they finally found him.

"Tear," the researcher said as they entered his lab. He looked at her sadly, "I heard about your condition. I wish I could tell you to stop, but…I'm sorry."

She shook her head, "It's all right."

There was an awkward silence before Luke broke it.

"Um… Do you know where the passage rings are?"

"The only ones we've pinpointed are inside the Meggiora Highlands and Mt. Roneal," he replied, sadness no longer in his voice.

"Mt. Roneal?" Ion asked, "I've heard the God-Generals were gravely injured by monsters when they were there on duty. I think we should save that place for last. It's dangerous there."

"I agree," Jade said, pushing his glasses up his nose, "Even people living nearby rarely approach that mountain."

"Then let's head for the Meggiora Highlands," Luke said.

"We'll track down the location of the remaining Sephiroth in Padamiya in the meantime," the researcher announced.

As they left the lab, Jade stopped them all.

"I think we should rest here for the night, then go to Meggiora tomorrow," he said, "I think it's safe to say we're all tired. We deserve some rest after what we've been through these last few days."

Nobody objected to this, it was obvious enough they were all tired, and welcomed the idea of staying in an inn.

"Also," Jade continued, adjusting his glasses, "The Meggiora Highlands are near Sheridan. I think it would be best for Noelle if we gave her the night to prepare to be in that area."

Everyone nodded, and Alex was slightly surprised Jade was being so considerate.

"Well then," Jade said, "You all go to the inn and get rooms, I'll go to the Albiore and get Noelle."

After he left the others, they all quietly made their way to the inn, looking forward to some well-deserved rest.

* * *

_**A/N: Jade has received the Cock Blocker title!**_


	33. Meggiora Again

Chapter 33: Meggiora Again 

When they were all awake and ready to go the next morning, the group wasted no time in getting on board the Albiore and heading to the Meggiora Highlands. Noelle seemed a little shaky about going back to the Sheridan area, with good reason, but she seemed determined all the same. Perhaps it was because of Tear's condition, Guy couldn't know for sure, but in his opinion, if Tear was determined to lower the land even though it would probably cost her her life, then none of them had any reasons not to go through with lowering the lands.

On top of Tear's condition and the other recent events, Guy had other things on his mind. He had almost asked Alex out the day before; he would have done it too if Jade hadn't interrupted their conversation. It was a good thing that he did interrupt them too, since Guy now realized that it probably wasn't a good idea for him to ask her out while they were running around lowering the lands. For one thing, he wasn't even completely over his phobia yet, and for another, with everything that was happening, having a relationship could only cause stress for them and everyone else in the group after a short amount of time - and Jade seemed to know that, hence his perfectly timed interruption.

There would be plenty of time for them to develop a relationship after the lands were lowered and Van and the God-Generals were taken care of, why did Guy think it would be a good idea to ask her now?

Alex, however, didn't seem to want to let it go. Every conversation they had on the Albiore led back to what Guy was going to ask her the previous day, despite Guy's numerous attempts to change the subject. This eventually led to Guy avoiding having any conversations with her after Noelle managed to locate the area in which the scientist from Belkend told them the Sephiroth would be and landed the Albiore there.

It was windier in the highlands that day than it had been on the day they had saved Ginji, making walking a difficult task for all of them. It really didn't help that along with the wind sand and pebbles were being blown in their direction, making it difficult for them to see.

His avoiding her got him a couple curious looks from the others, except for Tear, who was clearly preoccupied, and Jade, who seemed entertained by the turn of events. What made it harder for Guy was that Alex looked really confused by him suddenly avoiding her, most likely because they had been getting along so well since the peace treaty, and now Guy was ruining that because he had stupidly almost asked her out.

"Did I miss something yesterday?" Luke suddenly asked, Guy hadn't even noticed him walking beside him as they all made their way to the Sephiroth. Guy noticed that Luke looked a little annoyed, and he had his arm up, covering his face to prevent anything being blown into his mouth or eyes.

"No, you didn't miss anything."

"Really?" Luke raised an eyebrow at Guy, "So let me get this straight, you spend all this time trying to get closer to her, and you finally start to get over your phobia a little…and then you start avoiding her? Is this some sort of strategy I don't get?" Luke continued, an unimpressed look on his face, "Or are you just avoiding her for no reason?"

Guy rolled his eyes and looked away from his best friend, "It's not for no reason," he muttered, hoping Luke hadn't heard him over the howling winds. He wasn't so lucky.

Luke crossed his arms, "Then why are you acting like an idiot?"

"Excuse me?" Guy asked, glaring at him.

Luke didn't reply.

Guy paused, knowing Luke wouldn't understand if he told him. He looked away from Luke again before muttering, "…I almost asked her out yesterday."

Luke stopped walking altogether, Guy turned around to see him looking at the blond as if he were completely stupid. Considering it was Luke giving him that look, Guy wasn't too happy about it.

"And the problem with that is…?" Luke asked as he caught up to Guy.

"First of all, I'm not completely over my phobia. Second, we have more important things to worry about, like lowering the Outer Lands. And third, starting a relationship right now would be a bad idea; we'll have time for that after everything's over with."

If anything, Luke only seemed more confused by Guy reasoning, "And if we all get killed by the God-Generals or something before we can lower the Outer Lands?"

Guy froze. He hadn't thought of that. He mentally kicked himself, why hadn't he thought of that? And when the hell did Luke start to think logically?

"We aren't exactly unbeatable," Luke shrugged, noticing the shocked look on Guy's face. He sounded a little more depressed when he continued, "We've been lucky so far, but only because people have been helping us…Iemon and the others even died so we could lower the Outer Lands. We're not safe just because we have a couple of healers on our side. We barely managed to beat Sync, and that was because he fell off the Tartarus on his own decision."

Guy thought briefly of their battle with Sync, and when he had broken a couple of Alex's ribs. Tear had been able to heal that, but there were some wounds that even she and Natalia couldn't heal, they had run into soldiers they couldn't save in the past.

And what if something happened to the two of them? There was no chance of them surviving a battle with a God-General if they had no healers. And it would already be bad enough if Tear or Natalia died, Guy didn't want to lose any of his friends, they had all gotten fairly close over the months of travelling together. Strangely enough he was even starting to grow fond of Jade, despite his sarcasm and twisted sense of humour.

"There's a chance we might not survive this," Guy noticed Luke's eyes were fixed firmly on Tear as she and the others walked ahead of them, "Why wait until it's too late?"

Guy stared at his friend in amazement for a few moments and attempted a smile, "When did you get so philosophical?"

Luke shrugged, his eyes still on Tear, "Whatever. You know I'm right."

This was the second time Luke had said that to Guy, and both times Guy had known he was right, much to his annoyance. But he also felt proud of his friend, he really was growing up.

He smirked as he noticed Luke's eyes were still on Tear, "Yeah? Maybe you should take your own advice then."

Luke looked up at Guy, genuinely confused, "Huh?"

"Never mind," Guy laughed, Luke really was clueless.

Even though Luke was clearly right, Guy still had his doubts about asking Alex out right then. Perhaps he had forced himself to believe that if he waited, the chances of them all surviving would increase? Whatever the reason, Guy found himself still wanting to wait for a better time to talk to Alex about their relationship again.

"Oh," Ion pointed ahead of them, snapping Guy out of his thoughts, "There's the door to the Sephiroth."

But unfortunately it wasn't just them who had found the Sephiroth. It was the gunfire and the bullet that narrowly missed Luke's head that clued them in to the person following them.

"Major! " Tear shouted in alarm as the woman barreled at her.

"Too slow!" she shouted as she went to deliver a roundhouse kick to Tear, who leapt out of the way just in time, landing in a heap on the ground. She was coughing again, perhaps from a lungful of sand, or maybe her medicine was starting to wear off, it was hard to tell.

Everyone in the group readied their weapons, just as Legretta began to approach Tear, who was on her feet again.

"Tear," Legretta said, Guy couldn't help but notice the sudden kindness in her voice as she spoke, "Stop this foolishness. Commandant Grants is worried about you."

Tear glared at her, "_You_ all are the fools!"

Legretta paused for a moment. "We know about your health." Tear's eyes widened in shock at the words. "Is this world really worth giving your own life to save? I'm sure you've heard the truth about Hod."

"Politicians controlled by the Score, using it for their own ends…" Tear said slowly, "Just as Van said."

"Then join us," Legretta said, a small note of desperation in her voice, "The Commandant will spare you and the other survivors of Hod."

"Thanks, but I'll pass on a world replaced entirely with replicas," Guy replied, earning a nod from Alex and a glare from Legretta, "What's wrong with the land and people we have now?"

"They will never escape the curse of Yulia's Score," Legretta retorted. She shook her head and began to walk away. She turned to face Tear once more, "In time, you'll come to understand just how accurate Yulia's Score is. The Score is stronger than a few disturbances. History will proceed as the Seventh Fonstone shows."

Guy's mind flashed quickly to the bright light he saw in the core.

"The Seventh Fonstone?" Tear asked, "Has Van found it?"

"No, Tear! That was it!" Guy called over to her, "That thing was the Seventh Fonstone!"

While everyone was looking at Guy, Legretta made her escape.

"Wait!" Luke cried, but she was already gone.

"Apparently she didn't come here to fight," Jade said, his spear disappearing from his hand, "Guy, where did you see the Seventh Fonstone?"

"In Hod," Guy replied, ignoring the shocked look on everyone's faces, "When I was a kid. Van took me to see it once."

"In Hod?" Jade asked, slightly shocked, "That's the first I've heard of that."

"Van said it was in a secret place," Guy explained, "Its location passed down within the Fende family. Fende was one of the seven sages who served Yulia…"

"Yulia's children carried on her fonic hymns and abilities from one generation to the next," Tear added.

"You're one of Yulia's descendants yourself, are you not?" Natalia asked.

"That's what Van told me. I don't have any proof though…"

"But you can sing those fonic hymns," Anise said.

"And only a descendant of Yulia would be guarding the Seventh Fonstone," Guy added. "The Seventh Fonstone disappeared into the core along with Hod. That light we saw going into the core. That was the Seventh Fonstone, I'm sure of it."

"If the Seventh Fonstone was in Hod, then when Hod was destroyed, it could have sunk into the liquefied land, but…"

"Then Master Van knows the future written on the Seventh Fonstone?" Luke asked, "Could we actually be doing something bad?"

"The Outer Lands will fall regardless," Guy reminded him.

"He's right," Alex agreed, "We should lower them slowly so people don't get hurt."

"Yeah, that's true. I'm just worried about everything we don't know."

"We've wasted enough time," Jade said, adjusting his glasses, "We need to prepare this land for descent."

Ion nodded and walked toward the Yulian Seal on the doorway, Anise close behind him to catch him if he fell afterwards.

"There's no sign of Master Van being here," Luke said as Ion used his Daathic fonic arte on the seal, making it disappear. As Guy expected, Ion fell over immediately afterwards, Anise catching him and lowering him down slowly on the ground.

"Hang in there, Ion," she told him.

Ion smiled weakly at her and apologized for slowing them down, "I have the original's abilities, but not his strength."

"It's a strange feeling," Jade said, his hands in his pockets, "Seeing the research I began spread in this way."

"I think Asch is angry about it," Luke said, "But I'm seriously grateful. If you hadn't thought up fomicry, I'd never have been born… Though I probably wasn't meant to be."

Guy sighed. And he was_ so_ close to saying something that didn't put himself down.

"You said you weren't going to talk like that anymore!" Tear scolded him, hands on her hips.

"Stop putting yourself down, Luke," Alex agreed.

Even Mieu was scolding him, "Yeah, stop, Master!" he squeaked, floating up near Luke's head.

Luke looked very ganged up on, "Alright, alright," he said, putting his hands up in surrender.

Without another word they finally entered the Sephiroth, and the girls set to trying to tame their hair after what the wind outside had done to them, the boys didn't seem to care, but Guy did notice that Jade's hair wasn't messy in the least.

Guy was completely overwhelmed by the Sephiroth. He was used to them having plenty of Dawn Age fon machinery, but this place was different. He'd never seen so many fon machines all in one place! It was amazing!

He ran ahead of the others with a childish grin on his face, not caring if the others would make fun of him for his enthusiasm.

"Wow!" he exclaimed, "I didn't expect to see fon machines like these in a place like this!"

"Why the hell do you sound so happy…?" Luke asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Living in Kimlasca opened my eyes to the wonders of fonic technology," Guy explained before running over to examine one of the machines in the room they were in. "Dawn Age fon machines were built so well!"

He turned back to the group just in time to see them all simultaneously turn their heads toward Alex, their faces all silently asking the question, 'Really?'

Alex's face turned a shade of pink as they all stared at her, "Wh-why are you all staring at me?..." she asked nervously.

Nobody answered her question. Guy was still trying to ignore the silent insult they had all directed at him.

"Men really like this sort of thing, don't they?" Natalia eventually asked.

"My Papa likes building models too," Anise shrugged, "He's like a little kid."

Guy rolled his eyes, "Whatever, women just don't get it." He pointed in the direction of the door to the next room, the childish grin reappearing on his face, "Come on! Let's go! Let's go!"

He didn't wait for the others to catch up to him, instead he just ran ahead, going straight through the doors and stopping in the middle of the platform in the next room, staring in silent amazement at what he saw before him. An actual mechanic doll, made of four differently coloured rotating tuning forks – red, green, blue, and yellow – attached to a big mechanical part with rings around the top and bottom, of the same design as the rings around each passage ring they had been to so far.

"You should have become a fonic technician instead of a swordsman," Luke said to him as he and the others joined Guy in the other room, "What are you staring at?" he asked as he followed Guy's gaze and looked at the mechanic doll, not impressed in the least by its glory.

"It's a mechanic doll!" Guy shouted happily, ignoring Anise's groan as she covered her face with her hands, "That's so awesome! I've never seen one in real life before!"

He ran toward it, Tear calling out for him to stop. "Wait! If it attacks you…"

Guy laughed, "This isn't a combat machine, Tear. It's probably here to maintain the fon machinery."

"You mean he's the one who maintains the passage ring?" Ion asked.

"Well, the passage rings throughout the world are connected," Guy explained, "Maybe when there's a serious problem, this guy heads out to fix it."

"But the passage rings are broken now anyway…" Alex said.

Guy paused, his grin disappearing as he tried to think of an explanation. He couldn't think of anything, "Well…yeah."

"If the Sephiroth breaking had been written in the Score," Jade said, "Then perhaps this mechanical doll was programmed with how to deal with it."

"I'm sorry," Luke said, shaking his head, "But are we actually supposed to find this interesting?" He gestured towards him and the girls of the group.

"Well…" Alex said nervously, playing with her hair – a habit Guy noticed she'd picked up sometime during their journey, "I sort of do…"

There was a pregnant pause as everyone stared at Alex again before Anise eventually spoke, "Do you think it's contagious?" she whispered to Luke, her eyes darting between Guy and Alex.

Luke shrugged, "They _have_ been spending more time together lately."

Guy ignored them and focussed on Alex. Was she kidding? Or was she being serious and had just never said anything before?

"Really?" he asked her as he approached, unable to supress the smile on his face.

She looked up nervously at him, and he noticed with a bit of guilt that she almost seemed shocked that he was talking to her again, "Um, yeah. Well, I find some of the theories interesting, but I don't know anything about the mechanics or how they actually work or anything…"

"Marry her," Luke coughed, earning a giggle from Anise. Guy ignored them again, but from the blush on Alex's face as she glared at Luke, he could tell she was having a harder time doing the same.

"I could teach you some basic stuff about fon machines and how they work if you want," Guy offered.

"Oh," Alex laughed nervously, "No thanks…I'm okay. I'm fine with just hearing about some of the theories, I don't need to know how they work."

"Are you sure? I can teach you the most basic stuff, nothing really complicated."

"Uh-oh," Anise giggled, "Alex, you should probably stay away from him while he's still in fon machine mode."

"Would you stop making fun of me?" he snapped, Alex holding a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.

Tear sighed, and continued toward the elevator a small distance away, "We're wasting time again, let's move on."

The others followed her, Anise doing so with a bounce in her step that wasn't there before, like she lived off of bugging people. Clearly she'd been spending too much time around Jade, and just wasn't as good at hiding how entertained she was by other people's reactions to whatever she did.

Guy was a little annoyed when Alex seemed to take Anise's advice on staying a short distance away from him while they were still there. He reminded himself that it was a little unfair for him to feel that way, when he had been ignoring her earlier. Still though, he was trying to get his head around the fact that she had just said she didn't mind fon machines. Maybe it was all those times she had spent in his room while he fidgeted with whatever small machines he could get his hands on in the manor? Thinking back, she did ask him a lot of questions about what the machines were supposed to do…

They stood on the elevator for a few moments, waiting for it to start descending, but nothing happened. They tried a few things, Anise even tried jumping up and down in the center of the platform as if doing so would make it go down, but nothing worked.

"The power must be out," Jade finally said.

"But the passage ring's below us and there aren't any stairs!" Anise exclaimed, looking up at Jade from the spot on the elevator she was glaring at, as if trying to threaten it into working.

Everyone turned their heads toward Guy, who sighed.

"Oh, _now_ you want me to go into 'fon machine mode'?"

He was met with silence for a few moments.

"...Yes please?" Alex finally asked, a little tentatively.

Guy sighed again, "We need to replace the broken power supply with a new one, but…"

"There's no replacement," Tear finished.

"Except for him…" Guy replied, turning around to face the mechanical doll, "If we take his power supply and attach it in the center, it'll probably work."

"But if you take his power supply, he'll stop working," Alex said, clearly shocked that he was the one to suggest taking the machines power supply. Everyone else seemed to be surprised by this as well, save for Jade.

Guy shrugged, "We could always replace the power supply later on, but right now we need to get the elevator working."

Everyone nodded and turned toward the doll while it lazily floated in circles around the platform, completely unaware of what the group was going to have to do to it.

"If it's not too much to ask, could we try not to destroy him?" Guy asked, "I feel a little bad, it's not like he attacked us or anything."

"Alright," Luke said as he drew his sword. The second he did, however, the mechanic doll turned to him, and without even a split second for Luke to react, it shot a powerful, multi-coloured laser at the redhead, who hit the ground just in time to dodge the attack, but the laser ended up singeing the tip of Luke's hair. The doll seemed to know what they wanted, and reacted the second Luke drew his blade. "On second thought," Luke said as he got up and got into a proper fighting stance, all while trying to stop his hair from smoking, "We may not have that option, Guy, sorry."

Guy knew he was right, that they may have to destroy the doll to get at its power supply.

"Where _is _his power supply anyway?" Anise asked as she enlarged Tokunaga.

"Don't worry about that," Guy told her, drawing his sword. He noticed that the doll seemed to be confused as to who it should go after, now that everyone was drawing their weapons; that would work to their advantage. "Just distract him so I can get to him, but try not to give him too much damage!"

They made quick work of it, everyone worked together to distract the doll. Alex and Luke had a couple of close calls with the machine's lasers, since they had to get closer to him to distract him for Guy to get in there, but in the end everyone made it out without any real injuries, and Guy was left with the power core in his hands.

They made their way back onto the elevator, and Guy replaced the broken power core with the working one. Once it was in place, the elevator roared into motion and began to descend.

"There, now we can go on to the passage ring."

The others could make fun of him all they wanted to, but they couldn't deny that his knowledge about fon machinery had helped them out this time.

…

No matter how convincing the strong front Tear was putting on, she couldn't convince herself that she wasn't terrified. Terrified for her brother, who she was almost sure was having the same health problems. Terrified of failing Luke and the others, and Auldrant as well, (what if her body couldn't hold out long enough for them to lower all of the Outer Lands?). But most of all, she was terrified of dying.

She was a soldier. Her job was to put her life on the line for the citizens of the world, but this…This wasn't what she'd had in mind when she signed up for the job. She didn't want to die, now that she's made friends and was finally starting to feel genuine happiness. For the longest time, the only people that made her happy were Van and Legretta, but they visited so seldomly. And eventually, Van's visits started to become less and less looked forward to by Tear.

Over the year before Tear vowed to kill Van, whenever Van visited, he would spend the time pacing in either Tear's room or in the garden adjacent to it, telling her stories of the evils of the world and the people in it. How he loathed the Score and planned to destroy it to free Auldrant of its shackles.

She began to clue in on what Van's plans were, when she had overheard a discussion between him and Legretta in the garden one night. That night she vowed to kill Van in order to protect Auldrant.

Had she wanted to do it? Of course not. He was her brother, the one who raised her from infantry, who taught her the fonic hymns that had saved her and her friends so many times over, and she loved him with all her heart. But she didn't believe in his ideals, and she was the only one who knew about them and had the ability to stop him. She didn't want to, but to save innocent lives, she would have to kill him. To make it easier on her, she reminded herself that he wasn't the person she thought he was.

As it turned out, it didn't make it much easier.

Looking back, Tear realized that she shouldn't have vowed to kill him without at least trying to change his mind, and she was glad now that Luke had intervened. As crazy as their journey up until now was, she didn't regret any of it. Except for a few things.

She had watched Van cut down Hencken and Cathy, unable to do anything. When she witnessed the event, something in her snapped. She knew now, that Van had to be stopped, no matter what.

Major Legretta had asked her if she really thought the world and its people were really worth dying for, but Tear couldn't help but wonder, is destroying the world and the people in it and replacing them with replicas worth dying for? She planned to ask Van this question the next time she spoke to him, for she was certain that Van must have been suffering from the same condition as her. The thought alone let her know just how determined her brother must have been, she would have to match that determination for them to succeed in lowering the Outer Lands.

That's why, as she approached the golden stand in the middle of the platform, she showed her friends no sign of fear or dread, though deep down inside she was dreading the pain and weakness that would come with activating the passage ring.

She took a deep breath and readied herself for the pain, and reached her hand out to touch it.

"Wait."

The colonel's voice caught her off guard; she hadn't been paying attention to the others. She turned around to face him, wondering if he was about to tell her to stop. She knew that the colonel wouldn't ask her that though, so she shook the thought out of her mind.

"Put this on," he said, holding out what looked like a wristband, with a small monitor in the middle.

She took it from him, "What is it?"

"A blood Fonon Meter. I'd like to make sure that it's the passage rings causing your condition."

She nodded and slipped the device onto her wrist before turning back to the stand. Without showing signs of hesitation she activated the passage ring, wincing slightly when she felt the Seventh Fonons surround her and enter her, and she felt that familiar sensation of lightheadedness. She was relieved to find that it wasn't as bad this time – the medicine was working well.

Once the passage ring was activated, she handed the Blood Fonon Meter back to the colonel, who announced with an unreadable expression that the passage rings were, in fact, the reason for her condition. He put the device back into his pocket and he and Luke began their preparations to lower the land, not before Luke put a hand on Tear's shoulder in comfort.

While Luke prepared the Outer Lands for descent, Jade explained that he knew of a way to possibly deal with the miasma in the Qliphoth. But before he explained too much, he told them that they would need some of the researchers in Belkend and their expertise and research on gravity.

After the preparations were complete, everyone quietly left the Sephiroth and began to head back to the Albiore with the intention of heading back to Belkend. Tear found herself reassuring Luke and the others several times that she felt fine.

"Just…Don't push yourself," Luke said to her, freezing when he turned his head in the direction they were walking in. Tear followed his gaze and froze on the spot herself, not believing her eyes.

There, right in front of the group, stood a person she never thought she'd see again.

His head was bandaged, and his arm was in a sling, but he was alive.

Smiling at the group triumphantly, was Aston.


	34. Atonement

_Chapter 34 - Atonement_

Noelle had been waiting on the Albiore in the Meggiora Highlands for a couple hours now for the others to return from the passage ring. She had taken the time to think about what had happened in Sheridan – she still couldn't believe it had happened. It had only been a few days since the event, and it all seemed so unreal. Being so close to Sheridan didn't make it any easier. Thinking about the town, she realized she still didn't know if Ginji was alive or not. She hadn't heard anything about him yet, and she prayed to Yulia that he was alright.

She'd barely had the time to grieve, since the group had needed her to fly them around. But they'd let her have a room at the inn to herself the previous night to think about things. She spent the whole night wondering about whether or not Ginji had made it, since they only knew for certain that the Classes were killed. She still couldn't even process the fact that they were gone.

She still felt like she could walk into the Town Hall and her grandfather, Tamara, and Aston would be there to greet her, perhaps discussing their next invention or experiment.

Just from thinking about it, she could practically hear the roar of an engine while picturing in her head her grandfather trying to get it to work.

She could practically see the Albiore III that she had seen the blueprints of flying through the air, showing the success of another experiment for Sheridan's Class M.

Wait…

Noelle stood up from her seat in the pilot's chair and darted for the window, pushing herself up against the glass to get a better look at the flight craft soaring through the air above her. It looked exactly like the Albiore II, only its colours were black and red.

There was no way she was imagining that! But there was only one group of people capable of building the Albiore III in such a short amount of time and they were all…

Luke and the others had seen her grandfather and Tamara be killed, and she had seen Van cut down Hencken and Cathy with her own eyes. Aston was pretty badly wounded the last time she saw him, he'd had blood pouring from the side of his head, it would be a miracle if he somehow survived that, but she didn't get her hopes up.

"Hey, Noelle!"

Noelle started at the sound of her name and jumped away from the window. She hadn't even heard the others board the Albiore, so Anise's cheery voice startled her.

She turned to them, plastering on a smile. She knew form Anise's tone of voice that they must have successfully set up the Meggiora passage ring to lower the land.

"Welcome ba-"

She froze once she took in the group before her. There was one more person with them than when they had left.

Standing between Luke and Guy was Aston.

His head was bandaged and his arm was in a sling, but he was alive, and that was all that mattered to her.

She hardly even realized that her legs were carrying her to him, and just stopped herself from tackling him – she would only end up hurting him if she did.

"I'm proud of you, Noelle," Aston smiled, "Tamara and Iemon would be too."

Noelle couldn't help it; tears started falling down her cheeks as she hugged him, making sure to be careful of his injuries.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Jade said suddenly, Noelle had forgotten the others were even there, "But Spinoza's getting away again."

"Spinoza?" Noelle asked, wiping her tears away.

"Yes!" Aston said, anger rising in his voice. She couldn't blame him; Spinoza had betrayed the others to Van. "Spinoza stole the Albiore III after I worked so hard to complete it! And after he'd already betrayed us no less! I have a bone to pick with him!" He turned to Noelle, "Hurry! We can't let him escape this time!"

Noelle nodded and went quickly to her seat, telling the others to prepare for take-off.

* * *

Spinoza didn't exactly make it hard to catch him. Granted, the Albiore III's engine broke mid-flight, so he was forced to land in the small forest next to Belkend. Noelle land a little closer to Belkend and everyone pursued him into town, Aston running surprisingly fast for an elderly man. Natalia had healed his injuries while they were on the Albiore though, so it was possible that he had more energy because of that. But it was most likely adrenaline. Really though, Noelle knew she would get the usual 'Never underestimate the elderly!' line if she mentioned it.

At first the others had wanted her to stay on the Albiore, but she put her foot down this time. She wanted to hear what excuse Spinoza had for betraying Class I and bringing about her grandfather's death as well as the others.

Once they saw him in the entrance to the town, they took no time in catching up to him. Guy was the one to finally grab him, since he was far and away that fastest person in their group. He grabbed the man from behind, one arm around his neck and the other taking hold of his arm.

"That's as far as you go," Guy told him, glaring at the man. Noelle was surprised, she'd never seen Guy look so angry. But the others looked as if this was normal behaviour as they caught up, so she just assumed she missed a lot more than she thought being hidden away on the Albiore all the time. Or it could have been the circumstances. That seemed more likely to her. "We have a lot to talk about," Guy continued, "You're coming with us."

They dragged Spinoza to the Governor's home and proceeded to question him there. He was sitting at the head of the table, looking very small and nervous, with the others crowded around him.

"Just what did you plan to do after eavesdropping on us?" Aston demanded, looking very much like he wanted to beat the man before him to a bloody pulp.

"Were you going to report to Master Van again?" Luke continued, glaring at him as well.

Spinoza looked like he was afraid to speak, but he managed to anyway, "N-no..."

"Please, everyone. We won't learn anything by shouting at him," Ion reasoned calmly. Noelle had a feeling that Ion could watch Mohs succeed in creating a war and still not show any forms of real anger. From what she could tell, Anise showed enough emotions for the both of them. She wondered briefly if that was part of the job for being a Fon Master guardian. He did have a point though, if anything they would only scare him into complete silence.

Everyone stopped their yelling, but they continued to give him dirty looks.

"Why were you in the Meggiora Highlands?" Ion asked.

Spinoza looked down in his chair, clasping and unclasping his hands uncomfortably, "I... I went to Sheridan to pay my respects to everyone's graves. There, I heard Aston was going to the Meggiora Highlands... I thought I'd apologize to him..."

"Then why the hell did you run away?" Aston demanded, either forgetting or not caring about Ion's request to stop shouting.

"I... I was scared! I didn't know what to say...so..."

"Do you expect us to believe that?" Anise shouted, hands on her hips. It added to Noelle's theory of her getting angry in Ion's stead. "It was because of you that the Commandant found out about us!"

Spinoza paused, "It's true that I betrayed Hencken and Cathy not once, but twice. I ignored them and conducted forbidden research. Then, I sold them up the river to Van. I know I can never undo that. But when they were killed, I realized what I'd done. I asked myself if my research was really worth killing my friends for."

"Well that's great," Noelle said darkly, speaking for the first time, "But you figuring out you made a mistake and trying to atone for it isn't going to bring my grandfather back. Hundreds of people were killed in Sheridan because of you, not just Hencken and Cathy. People have lost loved ones because of what you did," she was now shaking with anger, tears threatening to escape once again, "You don't honestly expect us to just forget about that just because you came back and said 'Oops, my bad! Sorry!', do you?"

Spinoza looked at her sadly for a few moments. "You're...Iemon's granddaughter?"

She said nothing, and just met his eyes with the coldest glare she could muster.

Spinoza sighed, "I am truly sorry. I know that's not enough, and I know you or anyone else who's lost family because of me will never forgive me, nor do I expect you to. But I would like to help you all in any way I can. I would like to...atone for my sins."

Again, she didn't respond.

Jade was the one to break the silence, "...Let's accept his help."

"What?" Anise asked, her eyes widening in shock, "Are you serious?"

"Yes," Jade replied, not taking his eyes off of Spinoza, "Whatever his character, we need his brain."

"I think we can believe what he's saying," Luke agreed, "It was hard for me to acknowledge destroying Akzeriuth. Once I did, I felt I had to do something...to make up for it. Spinoza is just like I was back then."

"If your resolve is true," Jade said, "Then there's something we'd like your help on."

"Of course, I'd do anything. What do you need me to do?"

"Research," Jade answered simply, "How to neutralize - or rather, isolate - the miasma. We need you expertise in physics."

Anise muttered something under her breath, turning her head away from the others. She clearly didn't want to trust Spinoza. Noelle understood that feeling all to well. But if it would help get rid of the miasma, then it had to be done.

"Please, let me do it," Spinoza begged, "Research is all I can do."

"You're my brother's - Van's research scientist. If you do this for us, he may kill you."

"I'll do it anyway!" Spinoza replied without hesitation, "Please. Let me do it."

Aston sighed, "How about we try trusting this fool one last time?"

Noelle closed her eyes. If Aston was okay with it, she couldn't complain about it either. Spinoza was probably the only man willing to do this for them anyway.

"But...he's a traitor!" Anise protested.

"What if we have him join the research under a twenty-four hour surveillance?" Jade suggested.

"I don't have the authority..." Governor Viridian replied. Noelle had almost forgotten he was even here.

"Then I'll give the order," Natalia told him, "Set things up as Jade said."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"I'll put everything I've got into this research!" Spinoza said as he got up, "Thank you so much..."

"Well," Guy sighed, "If he betrays us after saying all that, he's quite an actor."

"No kidding..." Alex muttered.

Jade stepped forward, pulling a few sheets of paper out of his pocket and unfolding them, "My miasma isolation plan consists of just a few scribbles, but here you are."

Spinoza took the papers from him and took a few moments to flip through them.

"We'll take Spinoza to Fon Machine Lab I," Viridian announced. Spinoza pocketed the notes Jade gave him and followed one of the guards in the room out the door.

The group was quiet for a few moments after the door closed behind them.

"Well," Aston sighed, "I'll be going to repair the Albiore III so I can return to Sheridan." He gave Noelle a quick hug, "You all be safe now."

"Oh, wait Aston," Noelle called after him as he was leaving, he turned his attention to her, "Have you heard anything about Ginji?"

He smiled and nodded at her, "Yes, he's doing fine. I'll be sure to tell him you're alright as well when I get back to Sheridan."

Noelle smiled, "Thank you."

...

Anise couldn't believe they were actually trusting the old man! They were all so stupid! He cause the death of Iemon and the others, in her opinion, they should have imprisoned him. It's what all traitors deserved, after all... They were really going to get hurt for being so trusting one of these days...

After Spinoza and Aston had both left, Viridian had told them that the researchers had located the remaining Sephiroth, and that it was near Daath's cathedral. Everyone including Ion had been surprised by this news.

Well... Everyone except for Anise.

"I wonder if the passage ring is inside the cathedral," Luke said as they entered Daath. They'd left Noelle alone on board the Albiore again. Anise wondered if she ever got bored just waiting for them all the time. Did she have anything to keep herself entertained?

"I don't know, "Ion replied, "But it's rumored that there's a passage from the cathedral into Mt. Zaleho."

"Really?" Alex asked, "I never realized just how big that cathedral is. When I'm inside I just mostly think of it as a bunch of pointless hallways with a chapel and the Oracle Headquarters and the occasional room thrown in there somewhere."

"Yes," Ion said, "It is rather large isn't it?"

"So if there's a path to Mt. Zaleho in the cathedral," Guy started, "Do you think it might be the passage ring?"

"Let's see if we can find that passage," Tear said, "Then we'll find out."

Once they entered the cathedral, they were faced with the man Anise hated most in the world.

"Mohs!" Luke said. Great. Anise hoped Mohs wouldn't try to stop them.

Mohs ignored Luke and the others. "Fon Master Ion, you're back."

"We've come looking for the Sephiroth," Ion explained.

Mohs hesitated before answering, "Yes, I've received a report from Yulia City. The passage ring is," he turned around and pointed above them, to the farthest door on the floor above them, "Beyond that door. It's a straight path, so you can't get lost."

"What's Master Van doing?" Luke asked him. Honestly, Anise still couldn't understand why he would call him 'Master' after his betrayal.

Mohs snorted derisively, "He abandoned his duty and ran off somewhere with the God-Generals."

Tear looked around the building, "I don't see many Oracle Soldiers either. Don't tell me..."

"More than half of them ran off to join Van," Mohs replied bitterly, "It's infuriating! Now, I've got my hands full rebuilding the Oracle Knights." He started walking past them and toward the exit before turning around again, "Oh, the room connected to the passage ring is past a corridor that's hidden to keep out intruders. Good luck finding it." He gave them a final smirk before leaving.

"Well!" Natalia huffed, crossing her arms, "What a loathsome human being!"

"He's probably grumpy because the peace treaty has made it hard to start his war," Guy shrugged.

"Whatever," Alex sighed, "At least he isn't arresting us or anything this time."

"I couldn't agree more," Jade said, "Let's not waste time and start searching for that passage."

"I wonder where Master Van went..." Luke muttered as they entered the adjacent room and began their climb up the stairs.

Tear's eye widened suddenly, "It couldn't be..."

"Do you have an idea?" Jade asked.

"N-no... Not really."

No one said anything else as they finished climbing the stairs and then made their was to the door Mohs directed them to.

"See?" Alex asked as the trooped though the hallway upon hallway just to get to one room, "What did I tell you? Too many freaking hallways! I have no idea who the wise-ass who designed this building was, but I swear he was doing it just to piss people off! There aren't even any other rooms to go into!"

Guy laughed, "Calm down, it's just a few hallways." They were being friendly with each other again, and Anise wondered why Guy was ignoring her in the Meggiora Highlands in the first place. She shook it out of her head, it wasn't important.

Alex grumbled something incomprehensible in response. Guy was making it seem like he didn't mind all the walking, but when they opened the next door to reveal yet another long hallway with a single door at the end of it, Anise swore she saw his eye twitch slightly.

"Perhaps they designed the building so people would be disheartened by the amount of walking it takes to get to a room they may be holding secrets in?" Jade suggested.

"You really have an answer for everything, don't you?" Luke asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't say _everything_," Jade shrugged, "However, I will admit there are occasions when my brilliance astonishes even me."

"And he's modest too!" Alex said brightly as she rolled her eyes.

They all held their breath as they opened the next door when they came to it, and sighed in relief when it revealed a library instead of a hallway.

"So this library has a hidden corridor that goes to the passage ring?" Luke asked as they walked in and scanned the room. All they could see were shelves upon shelves stacked with complicated looking books.

"He said it was a straight path," Tear said, "Let's try looking around."

They split up and searched every nook and cranny of the room. But there were only bookshelves and no signs of any doors.

Anise didn't want to have to be the one to locate the door, so she could avoid suspicion, but the others weren't getting any closer to finding it.

She knocked a book to the floor where the passage was and pulled it off as an accident. Nobody said anything, so she left it there as she went to go investigate the shelf next to it. She gave it ten minutes before turning back toward the other shelf, pretending to have forgotten about the book on the floor. She tripped over it, arms flailing, and pressed the button necessary to lower the shelf of books and a door was revealed.

"Ow..." Anise whined, clutching her foot in feigned pain, "I tripped." She looked up at the door and pretended to be shocked. "Oh! What's this?"

The others quickly joined her.

"To think there was a hidden passage here..." Ion said thoughtfully as Anise got up.

"Why did Mohs know about this and not Ion?" Guy wondered.

Ion hesitated, "I'm only a replica. I imagine the original probably knew about it."

"That...makes sense," Alex agreed.

"Okay," Luke said, "We found the passage, let's go take a look."

They opened the door and went inside, revealing a big, empty room with nothing but a large fonic glyph in the middle of the floor.

"Oh!" Anise said as she ran to the center of the glyph, which began to glow around her feet, "I bet we can get there if we use this fonic glyph!"

The others stared at her for a few moments. Uh-oh, was she being obvious? She thought she wasn't being that suspicious.

"Anise," Jade said in a tone that made her nervous, "Could I ask you a question?"

"Wh-what is it, Colonel?"

"You knew about this place, didn't you?"

She'd been dreading this.

"Really?" Ion asked.

Anise avoided his big, innocent eyes as she answered, "No, I didn't! I had no idea about it! Now let's go! Come on, hurry!" She turned around, hiding her face from the others.

"Gee, I wonder if she's lying..." she heard Luke say sarcastically as the glyph powered up and she was teleported away.

They had no idea the situation she was in.

* * *

It was ridiculously hot inside the volcano, which was to be expected. The heat waves were so strong the others had the ripple effect going on.

"It'll be a miracle if we all manage to come out of this without heatstroke..." Alex panted after only a few moments of walking. It took only about two minutes for them to all start sweating from the heat. Everyone had taken off their gloves and any other unnecessary articles of clothing they could, but it hardly helped at all. Their hair was plastered to their faces.

"Let's make fast work of this..." Tear agreed, looking more exhausted than the rest of them already were, though Ion looked pretty exhausted too. It was probably her condition. And it would probably get worse too since they were going to use a passage ring.

Jade, who seemed to be the only one not really bothered by the heat, had been keeping his eye on Anise, and it was really starting to annoy her. She'd made him watch her more closely when she got them to rush through the area the glyph had teleported them to. They had been curious about how there was a research site inside the volcano, and Anise had told them to hurry up because of the heat. She wasn't totally faking it though, the heat was bothering her. The others seemed to forget about it and chose to worry more about finding the passage ring, but not Jade.

She tried to not lead the way through the volcano, but it was tough to pretend not to know where she was going whenever Luke took a wrong turn. Whenever the others asked her how she knew where to go, her response was simply, 'I just have a feeling!' and soon the others were starting to get suspicious of her too. Lying to them was hard, but what hurt the most was lying to sweet, innocent Ion who believed every lie she ever told him without even asking a shred of doubt.

They continued on their way through the volcano, and it wasn't too long before the found the door to the Sephiroth. Ion proceeded to open it, and Anise caught him as he fell once the door faded.

"You collapse every time you open one of these doors," Anise said worriedly.

"I'm sorry," Ion panted.

She shook her head, why would he apologize over something like that? "You don't have to apologize, but I'm worried about you."

They proceeded through the doorway, and were all dismayed to see that instead of immediately seeing a passage ring, they saw more pathways, though now they were in the patterns that all the Sephiroth seemed to have. Anise hoped it wouldn't take them as long as it did when they went to the Zao Ruins Sephiroth. Why did all the unbearably hot places have to have the longest Sephiroth to get through?

"Oh..." Anise whined after they'd been walking around in the volcano for about an hour, "It's so hot..."

"How about we start up a conversation to keep our minds of the heat?" Jade suggested, still seeming as though the weather was perfectly pleasant, "Alex, amuse us."

"Wha-? Why me?"

"No reason. Are there any interesting thoughts on your mind you'd like to share?"

They all looked at her expectantly.

"Fine. Let's see... Jade's the father of fomicry, right?"

They stared at her, wondering where she was going with this.

"So wouldn't that mean, in a way..." she turned to Luke, "Luke, he is your father."

They all stopped in their tracks, looking at her as if she had grown a second head. Luke looked a little appalled, and even Jade couldn't hide his shock at suggesting that Luke of all people could be his son.

"Was that an attempt to harass me?" Jade asked at the same time as Luke shouted "Hey!"

"You asked for entertainment. This is the best I could come up with so quickly."

"Clearly I've overestimated your ability to entertain."

"_Clearly_ you shouldn't put me on the spot like that."

The others sighed and they continued on their way. Yeah. _That_ helped take their minds off the heat.

"Um...Okay, let's hurry up and take care of this place!" Anise announced, gaining everyone's stares once more. Jade looked the most concerned about how strange she'd been acting.

"What is it, Colonel?" Anise asked, "Is it my cuteness?"

Jade sighed, "No matter. This isn't a place I'd like to linger around in either."

* * *

After a while, they finally found the passage ring. They let out sighs of relief when they did, they were starting to run out of the water they'd brought with them when they figured they'd be spending time in a volcano. The longer they spent in the volcano, the weirder Anise started to act. She tried to stop herself, but the fact that everyone was starting to watch her more and more closely made her more nervous, which ended in odd behaviour on her part. Man, she was acting weirder than Alex was when she was hiding that she was from Hod, and that was saying a lot.

Once they found the passage ring, they made quick work of setting the land up to be lowered. No one could stand the heat anymore. Nothing happened that was any different from the last passage rings.

They agreed that they would go to Mt. Roneal to take care of the last Sephiroth before heading the the Absorption and Radiation Gates, and they started to make their way back out of the volcano. But first they would head to Belkend to check on Spinoza.

While they trooped back through the volcano, Anise noticed Guy and Alex hanging around at the back of the group. They looked like they were talking about something serious. Anise slowed down her pace slightly so she could hear what they were talking about. She caught the last half of something Guy was saying and her eyes lit up. That would be the perfect topic to get everyone off of her back for acting so weird!

"Wait!" she cried, spinning around to face them, "You guys are moving in together?

Everyone stopped and turned to look at them, both of whom froze on the spot, looking very much like they had been caught by their parents with their hands in the cookie jar.

"Well?" Anise asked, her eyes sparkling.

Alex was clearly trying to think of something to say, "U-um, well-"

"Does this mean you two are finally dating?" Anise asked with a giggle, "Congratulations, Guy! I guess you really are over your phobia!"

"N-no!" he protested, "We're not dating. I just thought that-"

"If you aren't a couple," Natalia said, her arms crossed. She looked a little unimpressed, "Then why would you be moving in together? It seems inappropriate."

Both Alex and Guy looked a little confused by her response. Anise knew that Natalia had a problem with them as a couple back from before the peace treaty, but they didn't know that Alex was really from Hod back then. Natalia's excuse for not liking them as a couple had been because it was inappropriate for Alex do go out with someone from Malkuth, was that really just a lie? What was her reasoning now?

"So Guy got you to defect to Malkuth, huh?" Luke asked.

Alex raised an eyebrow at him, "Luke, I'm going to give you a second to think about that question before I point out how stupid it was."

Luke blushed and scratched the back of his head, "R-right. I keep forgetting you're actually _from _Malkuth..."

"I'm happy for you two!" Mieu squeaked suddenly, hopping up and down on the spot.

"Th-thanks, Mieu..." Guy said uncertainly, "Could we drop this for now and maybe get moving again? I don't want to stay in here any longer than we have to."

They agreed and set out again, walking in silence for a few moments until-

"You see, Alex? That was the sort of amusement I had wanted before. Clearly I should go to Anise whenever I'd like an interesting conversation from now on."

Alex's eye twitched, "Shut up, Colonel."

...

They were more relieved than words could describe when they were finally out of that volcano. They stopped quickly in town only for showers and washing their clothes because of how sweaty they were before heading directly to Belkend. It was nearly midnight when they arrived, and Luke wondered if they would even be able to get into the lab at this hour.

Luke was still really worried about Tear. She said she was feeling fine after she activated the passage ring, she'd said that the medicine was working, but Luke was still worried. More and more miasma was entering her body with every passage ring they went to. He didn't want to think about what would happen to her once they'd activated all of them. What if she didn't make it? But he couldn't tell her to stop.

It took his mind off of it a little when they found out that Alex and Guy would be living together. He was a little upset that Guy had never told him, but then again, he'd never warned Guy ahead of time that Alex knew about being from Hod. Either way, he was happy for them. Besides, he'd expected Alex to get as far away as possible from Baticul once their journey was over, and he felt more comfortable knowing she would have Guy with her.

Luke was a little confused that Natalia was still against Guy and Alex. He thought that she'd gotten over that when she found out that Alex was really from Hod. He asked her about it as they entered Belkend.

"Hey, Natalia?"

"What is it, Luke?" She slowed down her pace so the two of them were walking behind the rest of the group.

"Why are you still so upset about Alex and Guy? I thought it was just because Alex was part of the royal family that you didn't like them together."

She narrowed her eyes, "I just don't see why they would move in together if they aren't even a couple. I would at least think that two people would be in a serious relationship before even considering such a thing."

"Did you actually expect Alex to just stay in the manor after knowing the truth?"

Natalia sighed, "Of course not. However, I did not expect them to just announce that they would be moving in together."

Luke was confused by her logic, "What's the big deal? I'm at least happy that she'll have Guy there to look out for her. She'd be safer with him. Besides, it's not like they'll be sharing a room or a bed or anything."

"Well... They wouldn't have to," she said simply before turning and picking up her pace to walk with the others, leaving Luke in confusion as they headed to the lab to check on Spinoza.

Surprisingly, the lab was open, and they found Spinoza working hard in Lab I.

"You live up to your reputation, Dr. Balfour," Spinoza said to Jade as they entered the lab, "Your plan just might work."

Luke brightened considerably at that, "Then you mean we can neutralize the miasma!"

"No," Jade replied, confusing Luke, "Not neutralize, isolate."

Luke could practically see question marks hanging over everyone's heads as they looked at Jade.

"What do you mean?" Guy asked.

"Between the Outer Lands and the Qliphoth exists a force field called the dividing line. Right, Tear?"

"Y-yes," Tear replied, looking a little put on the spot, "It's a region of force created by the Sephiroth Trees. It holds up the Outer Lands."

"More accurately," Spinoza cut in, "The upward force of the dividing line is in equilibrium with the planet's gravity."

"Lowering the Outer Lands means breaking that gravitational equilibrium," Jade continued.

Okay. Luke was officially lost. It looked a bit like the others were too.

"When the descent begins, the dividing line creates downward force. That becomes a membrane that will push the miasma back beneath the surface, into the core."

That was a little easier to understand.

"But that isn't actually getting rid of it," Luke said, "Are you sure it won't come out again?"

"If the miasma originates in the core, then it flooded the Qliphoth because the Sephiroth are open. Once we lower the Outer Lands, if we shut down all the passage rings..."

"The Sephiroth will close, and the miasma will stop coming out," Guy finished.

"With the core's vibration stopped, the solidified land has begun to solidify quickly," Natalia said thoughtfully.

"So that means that the land won't be swallowed up if we close the Sephiroth," Alex said.

"That's fantastic!" Luke cried happily.

"And to think you came up with it before me, the master physicist."

"Even so," Jade said, "We couldn't have been sure without having it checked by an expert."

"Now all that's left is to do something about that Sephiroth at Mt. Roneal," Anise said.

"It's been a really long day though," Alex replied, "We should rest before heading there. It's dangerous, right?"

"I agree," Jade said, "It would be in our best interest to be well rested for that mountain."

They thanked Spinoza and left, and as they were leaving the lab, Luke approached Tear.

"Hey, maybe you should pick up some more medicine while we're here?" he suggested, "We don't know when we'll be able to come back.

Tear hesitated before agreeing. She told him to go with the others to the inn and she could pick it up herself.

She'd been acting a little out of it lately too, Luke noticed. Not nearly as strange as Anise was in Mt. Zaleho, the girl had started acting relatively normal again once they left Daath, but strange all the same. Tear had something on her mind, that was for sure. Luke wondered what it could be about.

They reached the inn and rented some rooms. They quickly chose who they would be sharing rooms with, and retreated to them, falling asleep quickly due to the exhausting events of the day.

* * *

"Luke, wake up!"

He groaned as opened his eyes, seeing a panicked Anise standing above him.

"Anise, what is it?" Guy asked groggily as he sat up on his bed across the room; her shouting had woke him up too.

"Tear's gone missing!" Anise shouted.

Luke sat bolt upright in is bed, "What? When?"

"Last night! I woke up this morning and she wasn't in her bed! Come on, you two, get up! I'm going to go wake up Ion and the Colonel. Natalia and Noelle are already up, I need you to go wake up Alex!"

She didn't give them the chance to get a word in before she bolted out the door and down the hallway. Luke and Guy didn't waste words as they got dressed and headed to Alex's room. Luke didn't even bother to knock before entering her room and striding over to her bed.

Guy was saying something about waking her up gently, but Luke wasn't listening. He grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her as he shouted at her to wake up.

Guy groaned behind him, "You're gonna get us both killed..."

Alex sat up slowly in her bed, giving him a look that would have terrified him if he wasn't so worried about Tear.

"Luke," she growled, "If you don't have a damn good reason for waking me up so early then I am going to reserve a special place in my mind dedicated solely to finding ways to make your life miserable. And trust me, you do _not_ want that."

Guy sighed, "I told you..."

"I don't care about that right now!" Luke shouted, "Tear's gone missing!"

Alex's eyes widened in shock at his words, and she stopped fuming.

They heard laughing behind them and they turned toward the source.

Isabell stood in the doorway smiling at them, "I know where Tear went."

* * *

_**A/N: The Star Wars reference in this chapter was totally necessary. Hopefully you caught it, because I think it was pretty obvious. xD**_

_**I do not own Tales of the Abyss.  
**_


	35. Unsure

_Chapter 35: Unsure_

"I know where Tear went."

"You do?" Luke asked, spinning around on the spot and approaching Isabell. He didn't even question why she was suddenly there.

She nodded, and Luke, Guy, and Alex all looked at her expectantly, "I'll tell you when the group's all together. I don't like repeating myself."

Luke looked irritated, but didn't argue. He turned to Alex and told her to hurry and get dressed so they could meet with the others and start looking for Tear. Guy followed him out of the room, and Isabell chose to linger. She closed the door behind them and walked over to Alex's bed and sat down as the now-brunette started to change.

"How have you been?" she asked, noticing how different she looked compared to the last time she had seen her. It wasn't just her appearance either; she somehow seemed a little more confident than she was before. "You changed your hair."

"I've been good," Alex replied as she pulled her top on and picked up her belt, "And yeah, everyone knows I'm from Hod now, so I didn't see any point in keeping my hair the same if people were going to continue to think I was a Fabre. How about you? We haven't seen you in a while."

Isabell nodded, "That makes sense." It really did, it must have been hard for her to be reminded of the lie she was forced to live every time she looked in a mirror, but… The new hair color didn't exactly make her look like a Garcia either, not that it was her fault. And if it made her feel better about herself, then who was she to complain about it? "Nothing's really changed for me, except Van's been keeping me in the dark a lot lately."

"Why?"

She got up when Alex finished getting dressed. "I'll explain everything else in a bit. Like I said, I don't really like having to repeat things if I can help it."

Alex nodded and they left the room together, heading for the lobby where the others were probably waiting.

"So…" Isabell said as they walked down the hallway, "Random question: do you refer to yourself as Alexandra Garcia now? Or are you just 'Alex'?"

Alex looked at her confusedly, "In my head I think of myself as a Garcia now, but I haven't really had a lot of opportunities to introduce myself as one to anybody. Why?"

Isabell shrugged as Alex pushed open the door to the lobby, "Just wondering."

Everyone was already waiting for them in the middle of the lobby.

"So you _are_ here," the Necromancer said, looking at Isabell.

"Is there something wrong with that?" she asked him.

"Not at all," he replied, adjusting his glasses.

"I don't see any problem with it," Natalia said, "We never did get the opportunity to properly introduce ourselves."

"Why don't we just skip the introductions altogether?" Isabell suggested, "I know who you are, you know who I am, that's good enough. All I ask is that you call me 'Bell'."

"That's fine," Luke said, he was still clearly impatient, "So where's Tear?"

"So we're just gonna trust her?" Anise asked quietly, her eyes on Isabell, "Just like that?"

"It is a possibility that she could be luring us into a trap," Jade shrugged.

"But Alex is her sister," Noelle said.

Natalia nodded, "Do you honestly believe she would do such a thing?"

"I think we can trust her," Fon Master Ion agreed, "I don't think she would do something that could hurt Alex."

"But she's still a God-General," Anise reminded them.

"True," Jade said, "We all know that she and Van want Tear and Guy to join them. So she lures us into a trap and then takes them someplace safe where they could persuade them."

"She wouldn't do that!" Alex protested, "She's helped us before hasn't she?"

"I don't think Van would do something that underhanded anyway," Guy added.

Isabell sighed, "Look, I'm not asking you all to trust me right away, but do you actually have any other leads on where Tear might have gone?"

They were all quiet, and looked at her as if asking her to go on.

"I have one condition before I tell you anything."

Luke sighed, "What is it?"

"I want to go with you."

"Oh?" Jade asked, "Why would you want to join us?"

Luke spoke before Isabell could respond, "Whatever, I don't have any problems with it. We should all be more worried about Tear right now anyway!"

"How about I explain my reasoning on the Albiore?" Isabell suggested, "That way Luke can't complain about us wasting time."

"But, Bell," Natalia said, "You haven't told us where Tear went."

"She and Asch went to Ortion Cavern to see Van."

"Asch is with her?" Natalia asked, looking a lot more interested by the subject at the mention of Asch.

"But how do you know that's where they went?" Anise asked, her eyes narrowed.

Isabell glanced at Luke and saw that he was getting more and more impatient by the second, "I'll explain that on the Albiore too."

* * *

"I was with Asch when he and Tear left for the Ortion Cavern," Isabell explained once they were on the Albiore and on their way, "That's how I know where she is. Asch wanted to go to Belkend to see Spinoza, and we ran into Tear when she was heading to the port with the fonimin gathering team, so he went with her."

"Why were you traveling with Asch?" Natalia asked, eyes narrowed.

"I've been sort of distanced from the God-Generals, like Asch. We ran into each other a little while ago, and we were both headed to Belkend for different reasons," she smirked at the princess, "Why? You're not jealous are you?"

"Of course not!" Natalia huffed, "A lady does not get jealous."

She rolled her eyes, "Sure. But just so you know, Asch isn't my type."

"Why were you distanced from the God-Generals?" Alex asked as Natalia silently fumed.

"Van's been keeping me in the dark ever since he found out I gave you the flight stone. He must know that I'm a little on the fence on who to side with, since Alex isn't on his side."

"But you aren't actually against Master Van?" Luke asked.

She hesitated, "I told you once before that I didn't want the Outer Lands to be destroyed, and that's true, but…I owe Van. In a way, he saved my life. I won't go more into it than that, but whether or not I should stay on his side isn't a decision I can make in a heartbeat. But to make a better decision I need to know exactly what it is he's planning. I don't know anything he's planned other than how he plans to destroy the Outer Lands and create replicas of everything."

"And that alone isn't enough to tell you how crazy he is?" Anise asked, "He wants to kill everyone just to get rid of the Score! Why do you people think that's necessary?"

Isabell shook her head, "It's hard to explain. To you, the Score is a tool used for everyday life. To Van, the Score is the reason our families are dead."

That shut her up.

Jade pushed his glasses up his nose, "Bitterness towards the Score for that reason is to be expected, but…"

"Him hating the Score and wanting to go to any length to get rid of it is completely reasonable to me, since I happen to dislike it myself, but I do think he's gone a little too far in wanting to eradicate the Outer Lands, and I can't agree with how he plans to go about actually getting rid of the Score. But I don't know what exactly he wants to do anymore, so I don't know how I could even try to talk him out of it without that information."

"That's why Tear went to talk to him, isn't it?" Luke asked, "To talk him out of it?"

She nodded, "I believe so. I'm hoping it works, but I somehow doubt it. Honestly, if his own sister can't talk him out of it, there's no way I'll ever be able to."

"I don't think Tear will be able to change his mind," Guy said, "Van's never been one to bend to another person's wishes. Once he gets his mind set on something, there's no changing it."

"So Tear will have to fight him…" Alex said, "I wish there was some way we could avoid her having to do that."

"It really is unfortunate," the Fon Master agreed, "Family fighting family is too sad."

"It can't be helped," Guy sighed.

"We've arrived," Noelle suddenly announced from her seat.

Everyone got up from their seats and left the Albiore, Noelle staying behind and wishing them luck.

"Let's hurry and find Tear and Asch," Luke said as they entered the cavern, "Where do you think they are?"

They took a few more steps into the cavern and heard the clanking of armor coming close to them. When they looked up they saw three Oracle Knights coming toward them. Two of them were carrying a large fon machine, and the other drew his sword when the approached.

"Who goes there?" he asked. He didn't seem to notice or care that Isabell was with them.

"Stop!" Legretta's voice came from behind the soldiers as the one with the sword prepared to attack. He put his sword away at Legretta's command. "Commandant Grants said to let them through. Ignore them and return to your work."

The Oracle Knights did what they were told and returned to the ship they came on with the machine they were carrying.

Legretta had her eyes rested on Isabell, "Garcia. I should have known you would be with them."

"I'm just here to see Van," she replied.

Legretta ignored her and turned to Luke, "You're searching for Tear and Asch, are you not?" When they didn't respond, she added, "I'll let you pass. Go on in."

"This is certainly a surprise," Guy said, looking closely at her.

"I'm merely respecting the commandant's wishes. You're headed to Mt. Roneal next anyway. We'll settle things between us there." She left them without another word, everyone keeping a close eye on her as if expecting her to attack them the second they took their eyes off her.

"I'm worried about Tear and Asch," Natalia said as they watched Legretta disappear onto the Oracle Knights' ship, "Let's hurry."

The cavern wasn't that big, and the few monsters they ran into were weak, so they made their way through it fairly quickly and without much difficulty. Everyone was also very quiet, and Isabell found herself wondering if they were always this boring. It was almost as if she had chosen Sync and Asch as her travel buddies, and Yulia knows they were no fun to be around. Then again, them worrying about Tear and Asch may have been why they were so quiet.

When they reached the small room filled with lab machines that Tear, Asch, and Van were in, they took in the scene before them. Asch and Van were facing each other, swords drawn, while Tear stood beside Van, trying to talk to him.

Asch suddenly dashed at Van with his sword, and effortlessly, Van swept him away with his own, cutting his stomach open in the process. Asch hit the wall of the cave with a thud, and Natalia ran quickly to his side and set to healing him as Tear shouted at Van to stop.

"Your friends have come for you," Van said, not looking at Tear as he spoke, "Go. You too, Asch."

Tear shook her head, "If you keep this up, your body will be destroyed by the miasma too!"

What? How would the miasma do that?

Van turned to Tear, "All that matters is that I free humanity from the Score and give it a way to survive."

He turned to look at the newcomers, and his eyes rested on Isabell, "Isabell, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here for answers, Van. I want to know what's going on. How exactly do you intend to get rid of the Score?"

"I cannot tell you anything until I can trust that you won't leave the God-Generals and start working against us," Van replied, "Hod and all its residents will be brought back, that's all that should be important to you."

"Master Van, what were you doing here?"

When Van did not answer, Asch spoke up, sounding like he was still in pain as Natalia continued to heal his stomach, "They're planning to abandon Belkend and move to another fomicry research facility."

"Master, why are you so obsessed with making a replica world?" Luke demanded.

"Fomicry consumes large volumes of Seventh Fonons," Jade brought up, "Even with all the Seventh Fonons in the world, you still couldn't replicate the whole planet."

"He intends to use the enormous mass of Seventh Fonons in the core – Lorelei," Asch choked out; Van looked very upset with him for explaining. Isabell was at least happy she got a little more information.

Van finally spoke up, apparently trying to explain as little as possible since it seemed Asch would just explain for him anyway, "The stronger the core's vibration, the stronger the Planet Storm, and the more Seventh Fonons available. But you all put a stop to that."

"So that's why you didn't want the core stopped," Guy said slowly.

Jade spoke again, "The slightest mistake in fomicry will create replicas that perish right away."

"That phenomenon is caused by Seventh Fonons separating from the replica. If the separation is stopped, the replica survives."

Isabell was by now finding it a little difficult to keep up with all the talk of fomicry.

"Impossible," Jade said with a glare, "To begin with, fonons of the same type are attracted to one another. The Seventh Fonons will separate from matter and return to the Planet Storm."

"He plans to destroy the aggregate sentience of Seventh Fonons – Lorelei. Then the surplus Seventh Fonons will disappear," Tear explained.

So that was how he planned to get rid of the Score. If there were no Seventh Fonons, nobody would be able to read the Score. But it was still such an extreme method…

"Without the Seventh Fonon," Van said, "The Score cannot be read. The Score will disappear, and replicas will persist. Two birds with one stone."

"And you want to use Luke to accomplish that?" Alex asked him.

"It can't be done with the reject," Van replied harshly, "It has to be Asch."

Asch didn't reply, he only met Van's gaze with an expressionless look.

An Oracle Knight suddenly entered the room and addressed Van, ignoring the others completely, "Commandant, we've finished loading the supplies."

Van continued to look at Asch, "I need you. I'll wait for you at the Absorption Gate." He turned to Isabell, "Tell me when you've decided where your loyalties lie."

He turned to leave, only to be stopped by Tear. He didn't look at her when he spoke, "I didn't want to fight you. I'm sorry it had to come to this, Mystearica."

He continued out the door, and Asch got shakily to his feet. The wound Van had given him was too much for a simple healing arte to be enough. "Dammit! I won't let you get away!" Asch drew his sword once more, but as he took a step in the direction of where Van had just left, he fell to one knee, grimacing in pain.

"You're in no shape to do that," Natalia told him, worry on her face.

Asch stood up again and began to walk away, more steadily this time.

"Where are you going?" Natalia demanded.

"I have no time," Asch replied simply, not turning around to look at her as he left.

"We should return to town ourselves," the Fon Master said as they watched Asch leave.

"Yes," Jade agreed, "We're near Sheridan."

* * *

When they got to Sheridan, they ran into an old man that the group apparently knew. After a quick exchange of words, he lent them the town hall so they could speak in private. Isabell felt a little awkward about still tagging along with them, so she decided she would leave soon, she was only still with them in case they had any more questions for her before she left.

After they were all sat down, they immediately started asking Tear questions.

"Tear, please tell us what you were doing."

"I'm sorry," she replied, "I thought the miasma might be accumulating in my brother too, since he also used the passage rings."

Isabell still didn't quite understand what was meant by the miasma infecting her and Van. It was only supposed to be deadly if somebody inhaled a large amount over a long period of time, but was there something about the passage rings that infected the people that used them with miasma? She didn't want to ask, but that's what it sounded like.

"And you were worried about him?" Luke asked.

"Worried…Yes, perhaps that's what it was. I saw Major Legretta drop an Ortion Cavern ore in Belkend, I felt like he was calling me. So I thought I'd try to persuade him one last time, alone."

"That's a sister for you," Guy said.

Tear looked down at her feet, "…But that's over now. This whole time, I kept hoping that Van might stop this insanity. But… Van and I have chosen our separate paths."

"Are you sure you're okay with having to fight him?" Luke asked. Isabell felt very much like she was intruding. She didn't even know these people, her only connection to them was Alex, she felt like this was a private moment for Tear, and she felt very awkward being there.

"Did you forget?" Tear asked him, "That's the whole reason I came to the Outer Lands. I won't hesitate any longer."

"It sounds like she's made up her mind," Jade said, "Shall we head to Keterburg?"

"Are you coming with us?" Alex asked Isabell, looking a little hopeful.

She smiled and shook her head, "No… I'm not really fond of the cold. I think I'm going to travel on my own for a little while. I need to take some time to think about things." She turned to leave the town hall, waving as she went, "You'll see me soon though. Probably."

"O-oh. Okay," Alex replied, apparently trying and failing to not look disappointed. Isabell felt a little bad for disappointing her, but she would probably see her in a matter of days anyway. It wasn't like it would be the last time they ever saw each other.

"Thanks for the help, Bell," Luke said as she opened the door. She looked at him skeptically for a moment, wondering what she even did to help before he continued, "You told us where Tear and Asch went, remember?"

"Oh, right. Don't mention it."

She left the others to their planning and left the city, making her way slowly to the Port Sheridan. She didn't truthfully know where she was headed; she just needed time to think. She would probably just board the next ferry to wherever when she got to the port, it didn't really matter to her where she ended up.

She had once been on board with Van's plan, back when the main idea was to bring back Hod. But over the years it had turned into much more. Van wanted revenge once he found out the Score had predicted Hod's demise and nobody had done anything to stop it. Isabell had been angry as well, and revenge sounded like a good plan to her at the time.

But this…this was too much.

Eradicating the Outer Lands? Replicating everything? How was that necessary? The people of the Outer Lands didn't deserve that, they didn't know anything. Over the years, Isabell had grown attached to the world and the people in it. What Van was planning was just ridiculous.

Van's desire for revenge changed him into something unrecognizable. He was no longer her kind friend from Hod.

Hod…

She wanted Hod back. She wanted her family and friends back. But Alex had told her a while back that she, Guy, and Natalia had been the ones to raise Luke from a blank slate. If all her friends and family were just replicated, they wouldn't know who she was. And what if she had to raise her parents like Alex did with Luke? Talk about awkward. It just wouldn't be the same. Hod was gone, and it wasn't coming back. All she had left of it were her memories.

She didn't know what to think anymore.

…

It was snowing in Keterburg when they arrived, which surprised no one. Once the Albiore landed outside the silver city, everyone pulled out their old winter coats and scarves that they bought on their first visit.

Everything had changed so much since then. For one thing, Alex and Guy had been ignoring each other completely on their last visit, but now they were closer than they had ever been in the manor in Baticul. They were even moving in together after the Outer Lands were lowered and safe.

Natalia didn't know whether or not she liked that. Things were changing much too fast for her liking. It was all she could handle to just find out she wasn't a princess by blood, finding out Alex wasn't really a Fabre was too much. They had grown up together. In all their years together Alex had been her cousin, but now it was different.

At least back when she believed Alex was a Fabre she had a reason for not liking the thought of Guy and Alex as a couple. Honestly, she wasn't even completely sure of why she was still against the idea. She wanted to be happy for them, but for some reason she couldn't.

"There's something going on in the town square," Jade said suddenly, snapping Natalia out of her stupor. He was looking in the direction of a large group of people gathered together, apparently watching something.

"Should we check it out?" Luke asked.

Jade didn't respond, and instead headed to where the commotion was. The others followed him and soon they were fighting their way through the crowd of people to see what was going on.

"It's Dist!" Anise announced, since she was the first to get to the front.

She was right. And he was throwing quite the tantrum in the middle of the square, flailing his limbs around as he shouted insults about Jade for being late. He was currently spinning around in his floating chair, so he hadn't even noticed that Jade had arrived.

"Colonel Curtiss!" a Malkuth soldier said as he and a few others ran to meet Jade, "You're here! Do you know what this is about?"

"Didn't we get a letter from him when we were looking for the flightstone?" Guy asked.

That was true. Natalia had forgotten about it in all that had happened since then. Clearly she wasn't the only one. "My, he waited so dutifully for Jade."

"Well, he is an idiot after all," Jade sighed, "I'll have a little talk with him about Mt. Roneal. The rest of you, try and calm down the townspeople." He turned to one of the Malkuth soldiers, "Stand by for arrest."

The soldier nodded and saluted him, "Yes, sir!"

As Jade approached Dist, the others, along with the townspeople, watched. They exchanged a few words (Dist looked happy to see Jade), and then suddenly Jade was dragging the God-General off of his chair and into a nearby alleyway. The others set to getting the townspeople back to whatever they were doing before being distracted by Dist.

They split up and went to different groups of people, who were all trying to get a look at what was going on in the alleyway. Natalia was perfectly fine not knowing.

They had finally succeeded in making the townspeople start to leave, when an ear-splitting scream came from the alleyway.

Everyone in the square stopped moving, and shot their heads in the direction of the alleyway as another scream came. Everyone stood still, looking on with wide eyes and fear as Jade did whatever he was doing to Dist. Natalia really did not want to know what was going on in there.

"S-stop!" Dist cried, "Stop! You're killing me!"

"Is that Malkuth Colonel murdering that man?" one of the men behind Natalia asked a woman beside him, "Should we do something?"

The woman shook her head, "No, those two grew up here…They were friends…I'm sure Colonel Curtiss won't kill Saphir."

Natalia vaguely wondered if he would or not. She at least hoped he would have the decency to not kill him with civilians around.

"Jade!" Dist cried, "I'm sorryyyyyyyy!"

The screams of terror ended and Jade left the alley, dragging an unconscious Dist behind him. Two of the Malkuth soldiers hurried over and took Dist into custody before hauling him away, asking no questions about what had just occurred. The townspeople quickly dispersed as Jade walked toward the group, all of whom were still standing frozen in shock. Natalia suspected the people didn't want to be anywhere near Jade after that display.

Luke was the first to find words once Jade reached them, "Jade, what-?"

"Don't ask!" Alex interrupted, holding up a hand to silence him, "I don't even want to know what just happened."

Jade adjusted his glasses, "It seems the earthquakes have led to more frequent avalanches," he said as if everything was normal, "Also, an extremely powerful monster has taken up residence in the deeper parts. The monsters in the area have likely grown aggressive due to that influence."

"O-okay…" Luke said, "Um…about that scream just now…?"

Jade smiled, and everyone had to take a step back because of just how creepy it was, "Oh, that was nothing. Let's be going."

Without another word he turned his back on the others and started walking. The others took a moment to start following him.

"Jade really is nasty to Dist, isn't he?" Guy said in a low voice so Jade couldn't hear as they made their way to the exit of town.

"I don't know," Anise replied with a small shrug, "I think they like each other."

"They grew up together, right?" Alex asked.

"I think so," Anise told her.

"Maybe Jade has that attitude towards Dist in order to hide his real feelings?" Tear suggested.

Guy laughed, "Maybe so… Kind of like getting angry and yelling at someone you've fallen in love with."

"Only not in that context…right?" Luke and Alex asked in tandem.

"Either way, Guy," Anise said slyly, "Are you speaking from experience?"

Natalia's head snapped in Guy's direction as he struggled to answer, "Wh-what are you talking about?"

"As I recall," Jade said from in front of them. They all stopped, they didn't think he had heard them. He turned his head to look at Guy with a frightening smirk on his face. Guy was probably regretting ever making that comment, "There was that rather serious argument you had with Alex all that time ago. The one that resulted in the two of you ignoring each other for over a week. What was that about again?" Alex and Guy were now both glaring at Jade, but he continued anyway, "Ah, yes. If I remember correctly, Alex thought you were overprotecting her. Because you pulled your sword on a man who hit on her, is that right? Is there a particular reason your reaction was so extreme?"

"It's nothing like that!" Guy protested with a light blush on his cheeks, "I just didn't want her to get hurt or anything!"

"Uh-huh…" Anise smirked, "So then why are you two moving in together?"

"I just asked her to go to Grand Chokmah because I figured she wouldn't want to stay in Baticul."

"You _sure_ that's the only reason?" Anise asked with a raised eyebrow.

Alex face-palmed, her cheeks were bright red, "Come on, just leave him alone."

"You should be grateful, Guy," Jade said, causing Guy to look up at him with dread, "It seems Alex is coming to your rescue. I'm a little shocked, it be the other way around, should it not?" he sighed as he turned away from the others, "Chivalry is certainly hard to come by these days."

Guy groaned, "Could you please stop? I'm sorry I ever brought up your past with Dist, alright?"

Jade didn't reply.

"I'm not," Luke laughed, receiving glares from Alex and Guy, "It's fun seeing you guys in situations like this."

"Aw!" Anise said, pointing at the both of them, "They're blushing!"

"Anise," Ion said as Tear sighed, "I think you should leave them alone now."

"He's right," Jade agreed, "We've wasted enough time. Luke, you never should have brought it up in the first place."

"What?"

"You're being immature, Luke," Natalia scolded as they left the gate of the city and started heading for Mt. Roneal.

"There is no chance in hell that this is my fault!"

Tear sighed once again.

"You never should have brought up that thing about the Colonel and Dist," Alex told Guy.

Guy hung his head and sighed, "I know…"

"It's never dull with this group, is it?" Ion chuckled.

"You mean it's never _peaceful_," Alex corrected.

"No kidding."


	36. Mt Roneal

_Chapter 36: Mt. Roneal_

"The God-Generals brought a regiment of Oracle Knights here once," Ion said as the group approached Mt. Roneal. They were having some difficulty due to the strength of the howling winds accompanied with snow attempting to push them back. Ion had to shout to be heard over the wind, and it was strange to hear him speak in anything but a calm and quiet voice. "The monsters and avalanches took many of them."

"Yeah, you can't outrun an avalanche," Guy said.

"Don't make any more noise than you have to," Jade told them as they began trudging up the mountain side, "All right?"

In truth, Jade was probably the least happy about having to travel to Mt. Roneal. Not because of the cold, which had so far been complained about several times by Anise alone, but because the place brought back particularly bad memories for him.

"I'm so c-cold…" Anise complained through chattering teeth, hugging Tokunaga for warmth. She seemed to be the coldest out of all of them, though Natalia and Ion didn't seem to be coping that well with the cold either, and Mieu had long since retreated into the item bag. "Wh-why couldn't we have b-bought more scarves or s-something in the city? I'm dying here!"

"You're not dying. And we spent all of our gald on gels and food," Tear explained, "We can't go into a dangerous place unprepared, particularly when we know the God-Generals are waiting for us, and we didn't have that much gald to begin with."

"We w-won't even get to the God-Generals if we d-die of hypothermia on the way there!"

Tear shot her a glare.

"It's a good thing we bought all the winter gear we _do_ have when we were here last time," Guy shrugged.

Luke sighed loudly, barely audible through the thick red collar of his coat, "Man…I wish I could get Father to provide funding for this journey."

Jade laughed at him, "As long as I'm with you, that won't happen."

"Oh yeah…Fa—the Duke hates Malkuthians…He wouldn't be happy about funding anything when a Malkuth soldier's involved."

It was clear by the look on her face that Alex was appalled at herself by the slip-up. It was certainly understandable. If Jade still wasn't completely accustomed to being addressed by the name 'Curtiss' after years, then it was perfectly reasonable for Alex to not be used to referring to the man she used to call 'Father' as 'the Duke' after only a month.

Jade noticed that most of the group was now giving Alex concerned or even pitying looks. And by the annoyed look accompanied by the slight blush on her face (though all their faces were red from the cold), she had noticed too.

"Why couldn't His Majesty fund it?" Alex asked, clearly more to change the subject than anything else, "He and Emperor Peony wanted us to go ahead and do this, you'd think they'd try to help in any way possible."

"Well, yeah," Guy replied, "But wouldn't we have done this anyway even if they didn't want us to? The Outer Lands are in danger and I don't think we would have let them fall…"

"But they _do_ support us; they could help us out a little by giving us the proper funds to stay alive. Without Luke and Tear the Outer Lands would be screwed."

"Not really," Luke replied, "I mean, we need Tear, but Asch would probably be better at this than me."

No one responded, but Guy gave a very audible groan, clearly not wanting to talk about Luke's inferiority complex.

"I'm not sure about Emperor Peony," Natalia finally said, "But the extra funds of our kingdom are going toward those who are homeless, jobless, or those who need support when they lose family in the war. I have recently used parts of my own fund to create more jobs for people in the ports."

"That's reasonable…But none of those people would be there to relieve if we fail, would they?"

There was a pregnant pause.

"Well…" Natalia started thoughtfully, "I suppose we could use the Natalia Fund in cases of emergency."

"You m-mean like wandering around ins-side volcanoes, or w-walking around on extremely d-dangerous frozen mountains looking for God-Generals and possibly dying of hypothermia along the way?" Anise asked, shivering uncontrollably.

"Now, now, Anise," Jade told her with a shrug, "You seem to have forgotten that we could easily be buried in an avalanche as well."

Nobody thought this was particularly funny.

"How would money help us in an avalanche?..." Luke asked no one in particular. No one answered him.

"I'm gonna die here…" Anise muttered, barely heard over the wind.

Alex rolled her eyes and pulled off her long, light purple scarf, holding it out for Anise, "Here. It's not much, but it'll keep you warmer."

Anise looked at it, "A-are you s-sure?"

"Yeah, I think my coat's warmer anyway, and has a higher collar. Plus, it'll hopefully stop your complaining."

Anise shot her a look, but took the scarf gratefully, wrapping it around her own pink one. She covered her mouth with it, and Jade hoped this would silence her complaints. It was hard to act like he was perfectly fine with the snow and cold when someone was complaining about it the entire way.

It didn't stop Anise's shivering, but she seemed a little happier.

They continued walking for a long while in complete silence, until the wind grew harsher as they got higher into the mountain. The howling of the wind sounded more ominous than it had before.

"Is that the wind?..." Luke asked.

"It sounds like a woman crying…" Tear said, looking up at the sky.

"It's kind of scary," Anise said, her voice muffled by the scarves.

The wind did sound a bit like a woman, and hearing it reminded Jade of Professor Nebilim.

"What is it, Jade?" Guy asked. Was he showing that much concern? "Don't tell me you're scared, too?"

"No…" Jade replied, looking up at him. Everyone was now looking at him, and he decided to humor them. "I was just remembering the past."

"The past?" Alex asked him, tilting her head to the side.

Jade chuckled in response, "It's the story about the ghost of a woman who died in these mountains. Would you like to hear it?"

Immediately, Alex and Natalia's eyes lit up in excitement, and Anise, Ion, Guy, and Luke all looked interested.

"Oh, I love those kinds of stories!" Natalia exclaimed, beaming at him.

"S-stop wasting time!" Tear suddenly shouted with her back to them, "Let's go!"

"Huh?" Luke asked as Tear started to walk ahead of them, "Don't tell me…"

Tear turned back to them and glared at Luke, "I'm not scared at all! So let's get going!"

She turned away again and started to walk as everyone else shared a bemused look. Eventually they started to follow her again.

The higher they got into the mountain, the icier it was getting, and in turn, the more everyone was struggling to stay on their feet. Anise had fallen at least three times now, and Natalia and Tear were not having much of an easier time. The others had slipped occasionally, but had managed to catch themselves before they fell.

They had reached the bottom of a very narrow, slanted path on the mountain. On one side of it was the mountain wall, on the other, was a very big fall if any of them were to slip.

"We're going to have to be extra careful here," Jade said, "If we fall, chances are, we'll fall down the mountain side."

Everyone nodded and they made their way in a line up the narrow path. Luke, Guy, and Alex were in front of Jade, the others behind him.

They made it about halfway up the slope when Jade heard the tell-tale cry of Anise losing her balance behind him. She had managed to stay on her feet, but it was still very nerve-wracking. He turned his head back to her, still walking, "Please watch your-Oh!"

The moment he took to turn his gaze from where he was walking had resulted in accidentally stepping on a patch of ice. On instinct, he reached out and ended up grabbing a handful of Luke's coat to keep him upright.

Luke cried out when he felt Jade pulling on his coat, causing him to lose his balance and fall over as well, "Jade! Don't grab my clothes! Gwah!"

"Now, really, Luke. Shouting and falling isn't very admirable, now is-?" Jade stopped short as he witnessed the event he had accidentally caused.

As Luke fell over, he bumped right into Guy, who was taken by surprise by the sudden contact and turned on instinct, falling sideways into Alex, who in turn stumbled and started to fall over the side of the path. Guy instinctively grabbed her hand as she fell, much like he had with Anise in Tataroo Valley, only this time he had ended up falling with her.

Jade's eyes widened in shock as he watched Guy and Alex both fall over the side of the cliff. The others had frozen in place to watch what was happening as well, all of them looking on with wide eyes as it happened. Luke hastily reached out to grab Guy's hand, but came up short, and Jade and the others watched in silent horror as the two of them fell down the mountain side.

At least they hadn't fallen into a chasm, and snow was usually soft. At the very least, they should have survived. It was lucky for them that Guy was carrying the item bag, since neither of their healers had fallen with them.

Well, this was troublesome.

Jade looked over to the others. While the girls and Ion were still staring at the side of the mountain in shock, Luke was looking back at him with a deadpan glare, and he sighed in response.

"I suppose you could argue that this is my fault."

...

"I swear, one of these days I am going to kill that bespectacled bastard," Alex grumbled as she and Guy sat up, brushing snow off of their clothes.

Guy raised an eyebrow at her, "You'd never pull it off."

"…I guess not. I can dream though, can't I?"

Guy laughed, "It doesn't really matter. After this we're going to the Absorption Gate, and then we'll all go our separate ways."

He often wondered what would happen if…No,_ after_ they put a stop to Van. He knew he was going to Grand Chokmah with Alex, and that he intended to do his best to restore House Gardios to its former glory, but what then? And what would the others do? Especially Luke, who would probably have a hard time going back to being cooped up in the manor after finding out he's a replica, particularly with Guy and Alex both leaving. Would they see each other that often? It was pretty obvious that they had all become pretty close over the months, but they all had their own lives.

Alex furrowed her brow in thought, "Guy?"

"What's up?"

"Jade lives in Grand Chokmah. If anything he'll probably just start looking for us in the city to antagonize, instead of us just being there all the time like now."

Guy let out a quiet laugh. Jade wouldn't do that…Would he?

"I think he goes out of his way to bug us," Alex said.

"That…wouldn't really surprise me. But I think Jade will have better things to do when this is all over with."

He started to get up, and looked back at Alex when she didn't do the same. She looked troubled by something.

"Alex?"

"…I think I may have broken my ankle."

Guy's heart sank. That…wasn't good. "Are you sure? You don't look like you're in pain."

She tried to move her left foot and winced, "I think the cold's kinda made a numbing effect… But I can't move it, and it does hurt. I don't know if it's broken, but it's a sprain at least. I don't think I'll be able to stand, let alone walk, on it."

Guy sighed and covered his face with his hands, "That's just great."

"Well…At least you're not injured. You could go get the others and-"

Guy uncovered his face and looked at her, eyes wide, "What? And leave you here? Alex, this place is littered with monsters!"

"We haven't seen any monsters so far."

"That doesn't mean they aren't here!"

"And maybe they won't show up for a while if you _quiet down_. You're going to attract them with your shouting. I think _avalanches _are our main concern right now anyway."

Guy paused to think of a reply, "I'm not going to leave you here without any way to protect yourself, so you can drop that idea right now."

"Fine," she shrugged. How was she being so calm? Shouldn't she be freaking out too? "Then how do you suppose we regroup? You can't carry me."

Guy sighed and sat back down next to her, ignoring how cold and wet the snow was. "Well…I think I might be able to, actually."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, really. I have been getting better, and think about it: I was able to help Anise in Tataroo Valley, and then I was able to comfort you in Grand Chokmah. I think I can do this. You need help, and no one else is here."

She nodded slowly, "Alright, if you think you can. But before we do anything that includes me moving, you were holding the item bag before we fell, right? I could use an apple gel."

He nodded and started to look around for the bag, as it must have landed a few feet from him, "How are you being so calm about this?"

She shrugged, "Just reminding myself that we could be crushed by an avalanche if I freak out too much, I guess."

Guy rolled his eyes, "That's a comforting thought."

"But it's effective."

Guy continued to search for the bag, which was covered in snow a few feet away from them. He grabbed it when he spotted the dull brown amongst the white and quickly opened it.

"Mieuuuuu… What happened?"

Oh, that's right. Mieu had taken refuge in the item bag.

Mieu floated slowly out of the bag, disoriented from the fall and probably a lack of air. Just as soon as he was out of the bag, the wind started to push him away. Guy grabbed him before he was blown out of reach.

"Oh, it's not really that bad," Alex explained to the cheagle as she took the item bag from Guy and began digging through it for some gels, "We just fell down a mountain side and got separated from the rest of the group, I sprained my ankle, and now Guy's going to carry me and try to find the others. We'll be fine."

"It almost disturbs me that that _wasn't_ said with sarcasm."

She smiled, but didn't say anything as she went to applying the red gel to her now-exposed, rapidly swelling ankle. Its swelling went down a fair bit and she sighed in relief before quickly covering it up again, before it was exposed to the cold for too long, wincing slightly as she put her boot back on.

"It feels a bit better, but I still don't think I'll be able to walk on it. I'll need Tear or Natalia to actually heal it."

Guy handed her Mieu and got to his feet before stooping to pick her up. He really was getting better at being around women, but he still hesitated slightly before picking her up, having to remind himself that she needed his help.

"Hold on," she said suddenly as he began to walk with her in his arms.

"What is it?"

"You won't be able to fight off any monsters if you're carrying me."

Guy thought about this for a moment, "We'll make it work."

"I can be a lookout!" Mieu squeaked from Alex's arms, just loud enough to be heard over the wind, "I can sense monsters, so you'll have enough time to put Alex down and prepare to fight that way if we get attacked!"

That was probably the best plan, "Alright then, we're counting on you, Mieu."

"Of course!" the fur ball squeaked, "I'm worried about Master! And he'd be upset if you didn't make it back to him."

Guy chose to ignore that last little bit. He didn't want to think about that right now.

"How do you expect to protect me if we _do_ get attacked by a group of monsters?" Alex asked, "I won't be able to help you."

Guy hesitated, "…I'll figure something out."

"What if we run into the God-Generals before we find the others?"

Again, he hesitated. That definitely wouldn't go well. "We'll be fine. Just like you said before."

They were all quiet for a while as Guy trudged up the mountain. There were no signs of monsters so far, and he was happy about that. He honestly had no idea how it would work if he ended up having to fight off any monsters by himself. Ion had said that they were strong enough to seriously injure the God-Generals.

"I don't think I like snow anymore."

Guy couldn't help but smile at her comment, "Come on, you loved winter back in Baticul." He had many memories of snowball fights and snowmen building and laughter to prove it.

"Well yeah, but that was because snow was pretty rare in Baticul. And it melted pretty quickly. Here though it's kind of permanent. And there's way too much! I don't think anybody can go through this mountain and come out still liking snow."

Guy laughed, "Yeah, alright. I guess that makes sense."

"Does it snow much in Grand Chokmah?"

"How would you expect me to know? I've never lived there."

"But I thought you liked reading about vacation spots?" Alex asked him with a smirk.

He looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. Had he really used that excuse that often when covering up about being from Hod? Thinking back, yeah. He had. "Touché… Well, Grand Chokmah's located right beside an ocean, and there's water all around the city. The ocean's warmer than lakes so it'll snow less. But there'll be a lot of rain."

"Oh. Okay."

"You're not actually interested in this, are you?"

"No, not really… Well, I mean, it's good to know for later. Time'll just go by faster if we talk instead of being quiet all the time."

"Umm, Guy?" Mieu squeaked, his ears perking up slightly and worry shining in his big eyes.

Guy already knew what he was going to say before he asked, "What is it, Mieu?"

"A monster's coming. And it's _really_ big!"

Well damn. That definitely was not good news.

"Guy?" Alex asked, worry in her voice.

"Hold on," Guy replied, looking in every direction for a place to hide. Why was everything so white?

He spotted a bit of grey amongst the white and made his way over to it, not remotely happy about hearing the sounds of growling growing closer to them. He hastily put Alex and Mieu down and stood up again, drawing his sword.

"Stay here," he told her as he slowly approached the area loud footsteps were coming from, not that she had a lot of choice with her ankle. He needed to get away from her so she wouldn't be brought into the battle, but he also needed her to stay in his sight. She didn't look too pleased about Guy going into battle alone with the poor conditions the snow caused, but there was nothing else they could do.

It was difficult for him to see the thing since it blended in so well with the snow, if it weren't for the patches of orange fur on its arms and legs accompanied with the sound of its footsteps, he never would have seen it come at him and start to swipe at him from the side.

He raised his sword just in time to protect himself from the claws of the beast, but the force still knocked him off his feet and he was thrown a few feet to the side.

"Guy!"

He got to his feet with some difficulty, and looked up to see the yeti making its way toward Alex and Mieu. Her calling his name when he was hit had most likely attracted its attention. The cheagle was in Alex's arms, attempting to ward the monster off by breathing fire at it as Alex slowly inched backward, trying to get away from the thing. The fire seemed to be working, but Mieu could only keep breathing fire for so long.

Guy darted toward them, just as Mieu's fire stopped, and the enraged beast raised his clawed paw over his head and prepared to slash at them. Alex drew her sword and prepared to try and deflect the blow, just as Guy rushed in front of her and did the same, closing his eyes and preparing himself for the impact.

It never came.

Instead he heard the strangled cry of the yeti and the the sound of its flesh being torn. He opened one eye and looked up at the yeti's face, which was contorted in pain. Its arms fell limply to its sides and Guy saw blood dripping fast and thick onto the snow behind it. It was definitely a blade that had cut it.

He was just about to thank whoever had just saved them, expecting it to be Luke, when the monster keeled over and revealed Largo instead, the black and red of his uniform standing out in the snow, holding his giant scythe over his shoulder with the blade covered in the yeti's blood. He froze, not knowing what to do or say as Largo looked at them.

"Largo!" Arietta cried, appearing from behind the giant man, "He was just protecting his territory! Why did you kill him?"

"It had to be done, Arietta," Legretta explained as she walked over to them, "The Commandant would be unimpressed if we let a monster kill two Hod survivors before we got the chance to talk to them."

"I could have talked to him…" Arietta said, looking sadly at the bloodied corpse of the monster.

"Let's cut to the chase," Largo said, looking at Guy, "The Commandant has decided to give you another chance to join us. It works out in our favor that you were separated from the rest of your group."

"I've already had this discussion with Van," Guy replied, holding Largo's gaze, "I'm no longer interested in going along with his plans."

"I see," Legretta replied, she turned her gaze to Alex, who was looking very much like she did not want to be there, "And you?"

Alex shook her head, "I'm not interested."

Legretta looked at her for a moment, "This truly is unfortunate. The Commandant had wanted you both to see the new world, along with Tear. We won't be holding back this time."

"But they're Hod survivors," Arietta said as quietly as possible where she could still be heard over the wind, hugging her strange doll to her chest, "Van wanted them kept alive. And Garcia would be upset if we killed her sister."

"Garcia has been distanced from the God-Generals for a reason," Legretta told her, not moving her gaze from Alex. Guy got the feeling she wasn't particularly fond of Isabell.

"But I like Garcia," Arietta said, hugging her doll closer, "She was always kind to me..."

Legretta paused to look at her for a moment, her stern gaze faltering slightly, "Are these not the people who killed your mother?"

Arietta shook her head, "No. My liger friends told me it was Luke, Tear, and that Malkuth Colonel who killed Mommy Liger." She paused and nodded toward Mieu, "But that cheagle did burn down Mommy's home, so I don't like him."

Guy saw Mieu's ears droop in Alex's arms at the comment from the corner of his eye. Honestly, he was hoping Arietta would protest more, the others might find them before the whole situation went from seriously bad to worse.

Legretta sighed, "Arietta, Hod survivors or not, these people are against the Commandant. They're our enemies, we have no choice."

Arietta looked at Alex, "But can't we wait until their friends get here? She's injured, so it wouldn't be fair to fight three against one."

They both looked at her, and Legretta finally replied, "It'll be easier to take care of them when they're separated."

"It doesn't do well for my pride to attack a girl incapable of protecting herself," Largo said grimly, looking at Alex.

Legretta looked at him sternly for a moment, "You two are far too soft. I won't stand for it if your pride costs the Commandant his goal."

"I don't intend to lose this time," Largo replied as Legretta walked over to Alex, who looked nothing short of terrified of being approached by the God-General when she was unable to protect herself. Guy got up and started moving toward her, ignoring the aches all over his body, but stopped shot when Legretta knelt down next Alex and inspected her ankle. Was she seriously about to heal her?

"_O healing power… First aid."_

Apparently so. Alex slowly stood up, testing her ankle out. She looked up at Legretta as she walked over to Guy, Mieu staying behind and retreating into the item bag. "I'm not going to thank you for that."

"I never wanted you to," she replied, pulling out her guns, "I trust three against two is more your taste, Arietta?"

She looked a little reluctant at first, but nodded.

"Then let's begin."

Without any sign of warning, Largo swiped at them with his scythe; they only just jumped out of the way in time. Arietta immediately set to casting, as did Legretta. The conditions were too bad for her to aim properly with her guns, and since Alex and Guy were so close to Largo she ran the risk of hitting him.

Largo was too big for them to get around, and they couldn't get to either of the casters to distract them. He was more than enough to hold off both Guy and Alex. Things weren't looking good. Largo slashed at them again, and this time they weren't as lucky. Alex was thrown backwards by the force, landing a few feet away, and the blade of his scythe managed to slice open Guy's arm.

Guy swore as he dropped his scabbard and his hand went to his wound.

Yeah, things _definitely_ weren't looking good.

_"O hellion whose roar chills the very soul_-Aah!"

Arietta was cut off in her casting as Anise came crashing into the scene on Tokunaga, using the doll's arm to swipe at the small girl and send her flying a few feet into the air. At the same time, one of Tear's throwing knives was flying toward Legretta, successfully distracting her from casting despite the fact that the knife had been blocked by one of her guns.

"Fon Master!" Arietta cried, getting to her feet as she noticed Ion approaching the battle with the others, "Please don't get in the way!"

"Arietta," Ion replied, giving her a sad look. Guy knew he was about to tell her the truth, "I'm-"

"Ion, stop!" Anise cried as she moved Tokunaga to stand right in front of him, "There's no need to tell stupid Arietta! Some things are better left unknown."

Arietta gave them a confused look, before Legretta spoke, aiming her guns at Tear, "Tear, stop sacrificing yourself. Is this word really worth that much?"

"I cannot follow my brother's extreme view," Tear replied as she began to heal Guy. He welcomed the feeling of relief as his arm was healed, along with the bruises both falling, and the attack from that yeti had given him. When she was finished, she stood up and looked at Legretta, "It frustrates me that I can't stop him, but I look down on you more for not even trying."

Legretta looked hurt by Tear's word at first, then replaced the look on her face with one of determination, "…Then I won't hold back any longer. We will eliminate those who oppose the Commandant!"

Natalia prepared herself for battle and shot an arrow at Largo, the projectile barely missing his head.

"How about you go back to your castle and behave yourself, Princess?" Largo asked.

"Do not insult me," she replied with a glare, bowing another arrow, "I have a duty to see everything through on behalf of my father."

Largo raised an eyebrow at her, "Your 'father', huh? No matter. If we can't convince you, then we'll stop you by force!"

After the words were out of his mouth, complete chaos was unleashed.

Anise focused on Arietta, attacking her with Tokunaga every time she attempted to start casting. Jade and Tear set to casting, Alex and Guy continued to hold off Largo since they were already close to him, and Natalia and Luke held off Legretta, Natalia going from healing and support casting to shooting an arrow every now and then to prevent Legretta from casting any healing artes when Luke was having a hard time.

Eventually Legretta gave up on casting, and started to shoot at Tear and Jade, distracting them instead. The sounds of her guns firing was deafening, even with the loud wind, and it was a wonder she hadn't caused an avalanche yet. It got Guy wondering whether or not she was_ trying_ to cause an avalanche, since she didn't seem to be trying that hard to hit Tear or Jade. She continued to shoot even while expertly dodging Luke's blade and Natalia's arrows.

As that went on, Largo managed to shake off Guy and Alex and headed straight for Anise instead, swiping at Tokunaga and ripping open his chest before slamming Anise away from Arietta, who immediately started to cast again. Alex started to run to the girl to prevent her from casting, but was cut off by Largo yet again, so Guy ran at Arietta from a different angle instead. He was slightly reluctant to hurt her after she was reluctant to fight Guy and Alex before, but he had no choice.

But by the time he'd reached her, it was too late.

She screamed,_ "Bloody Howling!"_ just as Jade shouted _"Flare Tornado!"_

Guy was cut off by the flames surrounding the pink-haired girl and Largo, as Anise shrunk Tokunaga and moved, a red, black, and purple, vortex of blades appearing where she just was.

All of that happened in the span of about a two minutes.

As the spells effects started to fade, the ground started to shake violently, and everyone stopped what they were doing.

Everything was happening so fast, and all Guy was aware of was the loud rumbling and shaking of the ground below, mixed together with everyone's screams. He felt the snow beneath his feet start to move and he fell over, not even having the time to really process what was happening.

And then everything was black.


	37. Window to the Past

**A/N: The lullaby in this chapter takes the tune of 'Safe and Sound' by Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars in most parts, sometimes the syllable count is a little off, and the lyrics are for the most part original.**

**Do not own Tales of the Abyss, or any lyrics from Safe and Sound that are pretty much the same as they are in the original song.**

* * *

Chapter 37: Window to the Past

_Alex opened her eyes and was almost blinded by how bright everything was.  
_

_She couldn't hear anything, she couldn't say anything, she could only see, and even then she couldn't turn her head to look around more. She was in the middle of what appeared to be a large courtyard; lined with beds of flowers in every colour, all encased by huge, pure white, marble walls and pillars that belonged to an even bigger manor. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the grass in the courtyard was a vibrant, healthy green._

_Wait a minute… Courtyard? Green?_

_What happened to Mt. Roneal and all its white, snowy glory? She remembered fighting the God-Generals, and then…an avalanche? Did she miss something? How was she suddenly here? Where _was _'here', anyway?_

_And why was she suddenly so short?..._

_All at once, her other senses came back to her. She could hear birds chirping, two young girls laughing a little ways behind her, and the wind rushing by her ears as she ran across the courtyard._

_Alex then realized that she had absolutely no control over what she was doing, she could only watch through her eyes what happened around her. She had to settle with not having any idea exactly who or what she was running from._

_And then she tripped, falling into the grass with a quiet thud. _

_She looked up, and was faced with a small blonde boy, who looked to be about four or five years old. He had bright blue eyes, and was dressed like a young noble. He wore a light green collared jacket and a white dress shirt underneath it, and blue pants with long brown boots that ended at his knees._

_But the best feature about the four-year-old Guy was something she was most definitely going to bug him for later on. Just seeing his hair made her want to laugh. Hysterically. _

_Was that...a bowl cut? Well, sort of. His bangs were parted to the sides in the middle of his forehead, but their was no better way to explain it. It was a good thing he changed it to the messy style he had now, though he probably would have had an easier time with the maids in the manor if he had kept that ridiculous haircut._

_The younger Guy helped her to her feet, and then poked her shoulder with a smile on his face. "There, now you're it!"_

_"Nuh-uh! I twipped! It don' count, Guy!"_

_...And where did her experience with the fonic language suddenly go?_

_Clearly this was a memory of Hod, and if Guy was about four that would mean she was around the age of three, going on four, which explained the lack of experience in speaking._

_Guy's smile vanished, "But-"_

_"No! You're still it 'cause I twipped!" Wow. Clearly she was a temperamental child._

_"But there aren't any rules like that..." Guy's eyes began to water. This threw Alex off. She had never seen him cry in the manor, or even once on their journey. _

_She heard two pairs of footsteps approach from behind her, and her younger self turned to face the newcomers._

_They were two young girls, one about fourteen or fifteen years old, with long blonde hair and thick bangs that fell over her forehead and the sides of her face. She had Guy's blue eyes, and wore a long, elegant, yellow dress. The other girl Alex recognized instantly, she had long auburn hair held back by a blue ribbon, hazel eyes, and wore a long blue dress. Standing before her was the twelve-year-old- Isabell she'd seen in her dreams._

_"Mary!" Guy called as he ran to hug his older sister, his eyes still teary._

_Mary sighed, "Honestly, Gailardia, whatever it is this time, I'm sure it's no reason to start crying again. What happened?"_

_"I tagged her but she says she's not it..."_

_Mary looked over at Isabell, who shook her head with a sigh. "Alexandra, please play nice."_

_"It don' count!"_

_As the two children went back to their bickering, Alex listened in awe. It was amazing how well they got along now compared to back then. Granted they, or rather Alex, still picked fights on occasion, but only jokingly. It was hard to believe that they had such difficulty playing nice. Just as she was thinking this, Isabell voiced her thoughts._

_She sighed again, "They always argue like this...Or Alexandra always picks fights with him anyway. Do you think they'll ever get along?"_

_Mary smiled, almost knowingly, "I wouldn't be too worried about that. In fact, I would be willing to bet that they like each other more than they let on. It's a shame their difference in status would get in the way."_

_Isabell stared at the older girl in bewilderment for a few moments before looking back to Guy and Alex, as if looking for something that Mary saw and she didn't. The two were still fighting. "Not in your lifetime!" she laughed, looking back at Mary as if she were crazy. Alex couldn't help but think about how ironic that comment was. Because Mary had died, Isabell had been right. She wondered briefly if they would have started to like each other even if the Hod war had never happened. She was snapped out of her thoughts by Isabell's voice, "They can't even stay in the same room for ten minutes without fighting! There's no way they would ever be a couple!"_

_Had they really had such a hard time getting along? Alex found that surprising considering how well they'd gotten along in the manor. But now that she thought about it, it took a while for them to become friends after Guy first arrived in the manor._

_Alex listened bemusedly as the two older girls formed a bet about whether or not Alex and Guy would one day be a couple as the two children in question continued to argue about their game only a few feet away. Before long, the two of them had dragged Mary and Isabell into the argument yet again, only to be laughed at by their sisters, much to their disliking._

_The scene dissolved around Alex, and she found herself in a familiar room – a dark room, where the only source of light was that of a single candle on top of her father's desk._

_She watched as her father read the letter held in his hands, a crease in his brow. The door creaked open behind them, and Alex turned to watch as her four-year-old self stood in the doorway, her small hand clutching the frame, the rest of her body remaining in the shadows._

_The tension in the air was much thicker than Alex had remembered it from the last time she'd had this dream._

_"Daddy?..."_

_Her father, who seemed to have not heard the door opening, looked away from the letter. "It's past midnight, Dearest. Why are you still awake at this hour?"_

_"I had a bad dream... I'm too scared to go back to bed..." A pregnant pause followed her words. "Daddy?"_

_"Yes, Dearest?" her father sighed._

_"Can I stay with you for a while?"_

_He turned in his seat and looked at her for a moment before sighing once again, "Alright, but only if you promise to go back to bed shortly."_

_"I will." _

_Alex watched as the scene between her and her father played out. She understood now why he was so stressed. He had known about what was going to happen, any details they had at that time about what would one day be known as the Hod War must have been in that letter. _

_Once again, without warning, her surroundings changed, and she found herself in the center of pandemonium. _

_All around her were the sounds of people screaming, and swords meeting with flesh. Blood stained every wall and formed pools around innocent people's bodies everywhere she looked. Her vision was slightly blurred, and she could tell she must have been crying. If she could smell, she was sure the coppery scent of blood would be thick in the air._

_She realized then that she was being carried. She looked up at the face of the woman carrying her and noticed that she looked almost exactly like Isabell, only her eyes were a deep chocolate brown and she wore her long, auburn hair in a braid._

_The screams continued as her mother carried her through the madness, seeming to be looking for something, somehow managing to avoid the Kimlascan soldiers as she went. She managed to find an empty room and stayed there._

_"Anastasia!" Her mother stopped as the name was called out, and when she turned she saw her father entering the room, a sword in his hand. "Where's Isabell?"_

_"I don't know!" her mother replied, her voice wavering, "I don't know. She left before everything started happening, I haven't seen her since!"_

_His green eyes showed fear, but he nodded, "I'll go look-"_

_Before he could finish his sentence, the door crashed open, and several Kimlascan soldiers entered. Her father prepared a fighting stance just as her mother screamed. The soldiers all ran for her father, who attempted to hold them off as her mother ran with Alex to the corner of the room. _

_Alex watched over her mother's shoulder as her father was slaughtered, and she started to cry. She screamed and struggled against her mother's hold as the older woman placed her down in the corner, covering her with her own body and trying to calm her down._

_She had tears running down her face as she took a breath and started to sing in a shaky voice:_

No monsters wait in the shadows this night

So, darling, don't be scared

You have no reason to cry tonight

_The room started to fade as her mother tried to continue the song, only she was interrupted when one of the soldiers thrust his sword right through the back of her head, the tip of the blade coming out of her open mouth. Alex started to scream and cry louder as she was sprayed with her mother's blood as her body fell away from her onto the floor. She saw a flash of dark red hair before everything went dark._

_And suddenly she was reliving the day Guy started at the manor with Pere once again. She was too shaken from just watching her parents' deaths to really pay attention, but she recalled how Guy was reluctant to be alone with her. Was that because of how they couldn't get along on Hod?_

_She was mostly wondering this to try and take her mind off of what she just saw. But her mind had other ideas. As if deciding that blocking that memory was no longer an option since it had been repressed for so long, her mother's lullaby continued. But rather than the shaky voice she had started to sing with before, her voice was peaceful._

There's no danger, no need to stay aware 

Take comfort in the soft glow of the moonlight

_Suddenly she was walking through the main entrance of Fabre manor, heading toward the drawing room, when something caught her eye. She stopped and turned, heading toward a twelve-year-old Guy, who was standing in front of the pillar in front of the doorway, looking up at a brilliant sword with a pale blue, translucent blade hanging on the pillar, an expressionless look on his face._

_She approached him, and he seemed so interested in the sword that he didn't even notice her._

"_Father says it's a symbol of some great victory," Alex said to him, her voice brimming with pride. He finally turned his head to look at her, acknowledging that she was there. His facial expression didn't change, but she could see pain and bitterness in his eyes as she continued, rambling on about how proud her 'father' was about winning this battle and how happy she was that he did. When she finished, she looked at Guy, probably expecting him to be impressed by her knowledge on the matter, but instead Guy merely turned away from her and started to walk away, saying he had something he had to do._

_As she watched the scene transpire, Alex couldn't help but think there was something very wrong with the picture._

Please close your eyes

The time to sleep is now

_She was standing in the darkness beside Jade, Guy, and Tear as Isabell, then known as Garcia, approached their camp. It was the night they 'met', while they were evacuating the citizens from Engeve._

_Of course, she knew now why she had looked so familiar._

_It was a little frightening how Isabell had grown to look almost exactly like their mother, the only real differences being their clothes, eye colour, and how Isabell wore her hair in a ponytail rather than a braid._

I'm here tonight

No harm can reach you now

_"…So Alexandra still doesn't remember?" Van was saying._

_"You really think we should be eavesdropping?" Luke whispered._

_"Shh! Van just said my name, I want to know why they're talking about me."_

_She felt like she was living through the shock of finding out he was from Hod once again as she listened to Guy and Van talk, and saw the look of surprise on Luke's face. She even felt the same sensation of time stopping as she and Luke heard the truth._

_"Alex, please believe me," Isabell pleaded as Alex stared at her, having just been told that she was her sister. "It's been painful enough for me to have to go against the only family I have left; even more painful when I knew that you had no idea we're related." Isabell looked tortured. "You've been wondering why Guy seems to know me, right? Well this is why. We all knew each other in Hod."_

_Alex remembered how conflicted and confusing her thoughts were that night._

The sun will rise

And you and I'll be safe and sound

"_Is there something_ you've_ been hiding from _me_?"_

_For a few moments Alex and Guy stared at each other. Tears were streaming silently down her face, and Guy looked both uncomfortable and guilty. He was struggling to say something, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly._

_Finally, he closed his eyes and sighed, "I know I should have told you a long time ago-"_

_"But you didn't," Alex would have flinched at her own tone if she could, "And for the life of me I can't understand why! I mean, you've only had about ten years. And we've only seen each other every day!"_

_"I'm sorry…"_

_"I just don't get it," her voice cracked, and she covered her face with her hands._

_She heard Guy take a deep breath and slowly step toward her._

_"G-Guy?" she managed through her tears, and Alex knew even though she was still covering her face that Guy was now hugging her. It was strange not being able to feel anything._

_For a few moments she heard and saw nothing._

_"Guy?" she asked again, and as she placed both hands on his shoulders and gently pushed herself away from him Alex regained her sight, "What are you doing?"_

_"You looked like you needed a hug," Guy replied with a small, sad smile, allowing her to pull away. He frowned as he looked at her teary face before saying quietly, "I'm sorry I never told you the truth."_

_Her vision became blurry again as more tears started fall. She lowered her eyes, "I've been living a lie for sixteen years and you knew it," she said in a small voice, "Why didn't you tell me?"_

_"After I first saw you at the manor I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid you wouldn't believe me. So I waited," he paused to wipe her tears away, he rested his hand on her cheek and pulled her face up so she was looking him in the eyes, "The years went by and you became more important to me. I was scared of what you would think; I was scared of losing you. I know it's not an excuse and I should have told you. I'm sorry."_

Darling, you've no need to worry

As the night grows dark

You know that I would not lie

_She was talking with Guy about how they were going to confront the King and Duke during the Peace Treaty. She saw only flashes of these conversations, taking place in hotel rooms, in whispers when they managed to get away from the other on the Albiore, and wherever else they could talk secretly._

_"What about you, _'Father'_?_ _Do you have anything to say?"_

_She was entirely too focused on staring the Duke down to even look at the others. She'd hardly even registered Natalia addressing her with confusion in her voice. She watched the Duke exchange a few words with Guy, furious that he wasn't saying anything about how he had deceived her for so many years._

_When she announced the truth about her past, she paid no attention to the gasps and whispers from the others. When the Duke explained why he had taken her in, how the Score had ended up being the reason she had lived a lie for so many years, she relived the anger she had felt back then. Over the short time that had passed since the Peace Treaty she had tried to let that anger go, but in reality the only reason she was so successful in doing that before was due to everything that occurred since. The deaths of the Classes, Sync in the core and Ion really being a replica, Tear being contaminated by the miasma, and of course worrying about lowering the land... There was a lot more to distract her from her anger._

_But she had still started to forget about that anger nonetheless. She had found one way of not having to think about how her life had been messed up._

_Suddenly Alex was looking at herself in a full-length mirror in a hotel room, examining her red hair. The image seemed to morph into her current appearance, her hair going from red to brown, and her clothes changing. She still held her old clothes in her hands._

_She turned away from the mirror and threw the old clothes into the small trash can in the corner of the room before leaving and closing the door behind her._

Hold onto this lullaby

Even when I'm too far

_Alex was alone in a room of nothing but black. She couldn't hear anything but her own breath, and she could only see herself. Though she was a little happy about finally being able to control her own movements again._

_"Dearest."_

_Alex turned to face the voice, and her breath caught in her throat when she did. Her parents were standing before her, her father standing behind her mother with his hands on her shoulders. They were both smiling at her, both sadly and proudly at the same time, and her mother had tears running down her face. They were both glowing faintly, but Alex paid no attention to that, nor did she notice the white light behind her parents._

_Her mother spoke. "How you've grown… We're sorry we couldn't be there for your childhood. Your sister's as well."_

_She opened her arms to hug Alex, who was now crying as well. She started to slowly walk toward her mother, extending her own arms as she went, but as she got closer she began to glow slightly as well, though the light resonating from her was flickering at first. The closer she got to her parents, the less the light was flickering, and she slowed down, looking at her hands. Why were they glowing?_

_She looked up at her parents, hoping they could answer her unasked question, but they only looked sadly at her._

_Somewhere in the darkness she heard her name being called, but it was faint, and she hardly registered it. She looked around for the person calling her name, but found no one, and when she looked back to her parents she saw they were starting to fade away, the white light behind them fading as well._

_She panicked, she didn't want them to leave. _

_She went to call out for them, but her father shook his head. "It is not your time."_

_Alex was confused by this comment, but spoke anyway. _

_"I'm sorry...that I forgot about you."_

_The voice called her name again._

Please close your eyes

The time for sleep is now

_Suddenly she was alone with Guy on the Albiore, talking. But she couldn't hear a word he was saying, and any response she had given was muffled and incomprehensible. Perhaps it was because she was so shaken about having just seen her parents. She still recognized the moment though as when Guy had asked her to go with him to Grand Chokmah._

_She heard her name being called again, this time much clearer. It was Guy's voice, and he sounded scared for some reason. Her vision went black for a few moments before she was in the manor again. She wished her thoughts would stop jumping around, she was starting to get confused._

_She watched a few different moments in the manor of Alex attempting to talk to Guy shortly after his arrival, but he had always used the same excuse to get away from her, saying he couldn't get too close to her because of his phobia._

_She wondered if it was really because of how they didn't get along in Hod that he never wanted to talk to her. Or maybe it was some other reason._

I'm here tonight

No harm can reach you now

_Alex was walking though one of the fields outside the manor when she spotted Guy relaxing alone a little ways away, about twelve years old at the time. She made her way over to him. They exchanged awkward hellos before she sat down. Guy was staring at her, as if wanting to ask her why she was there, while she stared straight ahead, probably trying desperately to think of something they could talk about._

_Finally, she mentioned an experiment she had heard about in regards to fontech, and Guy looked at her with curiosity as she told him about it. He asked her a few questions about it, seeming to find the topic interesting, and she tried to explain it more with a little difficulty since she hadn't actually known much about it. But she was happy that she could finally talk to him without him making an excuse and leaving._

_She remembered him saying something in the Meggiora Highlands Sephiroth. She pictured his smiling face and shining eyes when she remembered the words. _

"Living in Kimlasca has opened my eyes to the wonders of fon machinery!"

_Was it because of her mentioning a few projects that she really had no interest in that he got so into fontech? If so...she had created a monster. But it would explain why he was always talking her ear off about fon machinery at the manor when he got the chance. In fact she and Luke often had to pawn him off on each other so they wouldn't snap on him for going on for too long. Even some of the older maids would let him talk while they did their work, and Alex couldn't count how many times she'd seen him chatting happily about the wonders of fontech to Pere as he tended to the flowers._

_She also realized that ever since that day, they'd gotten closer. Guy had finally let her past the barrier he'd had around himself since arriving at the manor. He'd been considerably more cheerful to everyone too in the coming years since he'd found a hobby._

_Alex returned her attention to what was happening, just as she sat down next to Guy, but far enough from him that he didn't freak out. He looked at her for a moment._

_"Miss Alexandra-"_

_"I told you to just call me Alex."_

_Guy's eye twitched slightly, and he turned his head away from her, muttering, "Such a butchering..."_

_She tilted her head, "I'm sorry?"_

_He looked back at her, startled that she had heard him, "Oh. It's nothing, I just think Alexandra sounds better."_

_There was a slight pause between them._

_"Thanks, I guess. But I don't like it when people address me by my full name. It always feels a bit awkward to me when they do. Only Mother, Father, and Ramdas call me Alexandra."_

_He nodded slowly, "Okay... Then I guess I'll call you Alex."_

_"Thank-you."_

The sun will rise

And you and I'll be safe and sound

_"Here. Happy birthday."_

_He handed her the wrapped package before sitting down next to her in the same spot they had been in the previous memory, only they were a couple years older now. Guy appeared to be almost fifteen, and Alex had just turned fourteen._

_They were on much better terms than they had been in the last memory; they had grown really close over the few years since the day Alex had mentioned fon technology to him. Only Luke was missing from the trio._

_Alex unwrapped the package and a cute, stuffed rappig about the size of her head fell out. It had a brown ring around its eye and a single, large brown spot on its back._

_"Sorry I didn't get you something better-"_

_"I will name him Steve!" Alex announced happily, lifting the rappig into the air and cutting across him. She was officially worse than Emperor Peony at naming rappigs, she had heard many tales from Jade about the Emperor's crazy pets._

_It looked like Guy was resisting the urge to facepalm, "Steve? Seriously?"_

_"What's wrong with Steve?"_

_"What's _right _with Steve?_ _You'll have to excuse me for thinking that I shouldn't let you even suggest a name for any child of mine, if I ever get over my phobia, that is."_

_"Hey! I think I would put a lot more thought and effort into naming an actual child! I wouldn't name any human Steve anyway," she paused and turned her head away from him, "I've actually always thought Isabell was a nice name, if I ever have a daughter..."_

_When she turned her head back to face him, she noticed that he was no longer smiling at her. His facial expression was one of shock. She couldn't blame him for that look now. _

"_What is it?"_

"_Nothing…" he replied, taking a moment to regain his composure, plastering a soft smile on his face, "It's just that that name is actually nice."_

"_Shut up," she heard herself laugh, "Alright, fine. If it means that much to you, I won't name him Steve…"_

_Guy merely smiled bemusedly at her as she started to think of more names._

_"How about Bob?"_

_Guy raised an eyebrow at her, "Really?"_

_"Timothy?"_

_"That's...better, I guess."_

_"Yggdrasil?"_

_"...What?"_

_"Well, come on, Guy! Help me out here if you're so much better at this!"_

_Guy laughed, "Okay, okay. How about...Noah?"_

_Alex's view shifted down to the stuffed rappig in her hands for a moment, "Okay, so you are good at this. Noah it is."_

_Guy smirked a little at her, "I can't believe you're making such a big deal out of naming a stuffed animal."_

_"Excuse me? You're the one who wouldn't let me name him Steve!"_

_She still had Noah somewhere in her room back in Baticul, and she made a mental note to collect it along with some other things before going to Grand Chokmah._

_Then she suddenly remembered that she had missed Guy's birthday with all that had happened. He was twenty-one now and she hadn't even noticed! She would have to find a way to make up for that._

_"What's that one do?"_

_She was side-tracked from her thoughts when a new scene played out. They were in Guy and Pere's room this time, Alex was sitting on Guy's bed while he sat at the table in the middle of the room, playing around with a small fon machine._

_As he went into a long-winded explanation, Alex knew that she wasn't really paying attention to a word he said. She would never admit it, but she did sometimes like watching him talk about fontech, just because of how happy he looked when he did. She was happy he had something to be so passionate about._

You'll be just fine

_Suddenly she was in the abandoned factory standing next to Natalia as she and Luke argued about whether or not they would become part of the group. She was paying no attention to the argument, and saw only the disappointed look on Guy's face before she was staring at the ground. Alex knew that he would quickly get over her breaking her promise, but she still felt awful receiving that look from him._

_She saw quick flashes of their journey after that. The whole struggle of the Zao Ruins when they went to get Ion from the God-Generals, Luke pulling his sword on Tear in Chesedonia, and later Guy shoving Luke over because of the curse slot. _

_Soon she was watching as the group made their way through the Deo Pass._

_"Hey, random question. Do you ever have those moments where you'll be thinking about something that some people may find weird or dark or whatever, and then you stop and think, 'Oh wait, what if someone can hear my thoughts right now?'"_

_Alex remembered asking this question even after months had passed. It was shortly after a still-long-haired Luke had made an obnoxious comment about Ion, and Alex had tried to change the subject. More to keep everyone entertained than anything else, since they were all still upset about the comment Luke had made, and worried about Akzeriuth on top of that._

_Guy gave her a confused look and Jade chuckled a little in front of them._

_"You know," Guy replied, shifting his gaze to Jade's back, "I've had those moments a lot more often since meeting Jade."_

_Alex laughed, "Yeah, I can get that."_

_Everyone except for Jade all turned their heads to look at them, expressions somewhere between confusion and entertainment._

_"Wh-what?" Alex asked, "Did we say something weird?"_

_"If anyone said something weird, it was you," Guy said as Alex rolled her eyes, "Why did you ask anyway?"_

_"Well excuse me for trying to keep us entertained. This trip would go a lot faster if we talked more rather than walking in complete silence all the time, you know. I hate to sound like Luke, but it gets boring."_

_"Hey!"_

_The scenery changed yet again, and the group was taking a break, still in the Deo Pass. The majority of them were watching as Tear scolded Luke about something._

_"Amazing," Alex suddenly said._

_"What is?" Natalia asked._

_"We've been dealing with Luke for years and had no success with him, and then Tear comes along and in a mere few weeks she's got him whipped! How did she do that?"_

_Natalia didn't look too pleased with the topic. She was probably jealous, since back then she thought her engagement was to the Luke currently being scolded, and not to Asch._

_Guy laughed, "Yeah, I wondered the same thing when I met her too. I wouldn't bring it up around Tear though. She doesn't like it."_

_"Why?" she heard herself ask, and her head turned to face him, "What would she even do if I did bring it up?"_

_"Well... I don't know what she would do to you, but she hugged me..." he replied, shuddering at the memory._

_She started laughing, and Alex couldn't see anything for a few moments as her past-self had closed her eyes because she was laughing so hard._

_"It's not funny!"_

_"Alright," Alex replied, opening her eyes again. Her vision was slightly blurred from tears of mirth, but they were wiped away before long, "Okay, I'm sorry."_

_"I don't think you have the right to laugh at Luke about being whipped anyway, Guy," Anise shrugged, "You seem to be the same way with Alex."_

_Guy forced a laugh, "Well yeah, I am her servant, Anise."_

_"That's true," Ion said, "But it doesn't seem like that has anything to do with it."_

_"What are you talking about?" Alex asked._

_"Our relationship is the same as the one I have with Luke," Guy said._

_"Oh?" Anise asked slyly, "I haven't seen you flirt with Luke..."_

_Jade let out a laugh as Guy started to blush and glared a little at the girl._

_"We're not flirting!" Guy protested, "Besides, I have a phobia remember? How would that ever work?"_

_"Aww, come on!" Anise said, "I think it's sweet! Alex falling in love with one of her servants, and then the whole phobia thing is a great obstacle for you to overcome! It's like something right out of a romantic novel!"_

_Alex face-palmed._

_More scenes played out, and Alex watched as Akzeriuth was destroyed, felt a jolt of guilt as she watched John sink into the mantle once again. She watched, not being able to do or say anything, as Luke found out he was a replica, and then Guy attempting to comfort her as she had a mini-freak out about Asch being her 'real brother' in Yulia City. If only she could go back to that time and tell herself that that was nothing compared to what was to come. _

_She heard herself ask why Guy hadn't freaked out about all the fontech in Yulia City, to which he replied that he hadn't really noticed, and that he was more focused on the fact that they were suddenly underneath the planet's crust and what had happened to Akzeriuth to think about the fontech. _

"_It's driving you crazy, isn't it?" _

"…_Yeah."_

You're safe tonight

_She watched as the drunk man from Port Belkend made his advances on her, and Guy pulled his sword on the man. It was still surprising to see him do something like that. She listened as the two of them argued about whether or not what he did was necessary, and wished that there was some way she could have just erased that whole incident from the past. _

_The following week went by as if it was being fast-forwarded, and she found herself wanting to take back everything she had said to him in Aramis Spring, and hating how they had ignored each other for days afterward. _

_Then she was having that snowball fight with Anise and the kids in the plaza in Keterburg, though her heart wasn't really in it at the time. She noticed Guy walking by the plaza and stopping to watch with Ion for a bit as she went to throw a snowball, she froze mid-throw before she made eye contact with him and he moved on. Before she knew it she was on the ground in Theor Forest as Guy and Luke held off the soldier that had tried to attack her after she tripped. She remembered how she'd wanted to thank Guy and just make up then and there, but the curse slot had gotten in the way._

_She was happy again when they made up in Grand Chokmah, after everyone found out Guy was from Hod and she had tackled him to the ground._

_Then suddenly she was walking through the Zao Ruins Sephiroth with Jade, Anise, and Guy walking in front of her. _

_"Ohhh..." Anise whined, "We've been walking forever! Why aren't we there yet?"_

_"Well," Guy sighed, he looked slightly annoyed with all the walking as well, "It seems like we've been walking more because we're actually going deeper into the ruins than we did before..."_

_Anise pouted, "I can't stand this! Colonel, could you carry me on the way out of this place?"_

_Her puppy dog eyes had no effect on him, "I'm afraid not. But I believe I heard Guy say he would be willing to carry you."_

_Though Alex was watching the scenes through her past-self's eyes, she would have raised an eyebrow at Jade had she been able to. She was certain her past-self was already doing that anyway though._

_"Really?" Anise asked. Alex could practically hear the grin on her face, "Guy, you would really - wait, you can't, can you?"_

_"Well, as much as I'd like to..."_

_Anise sighed, "Fine, I guess there's not much you can do about your 'special condition'."_

_Alex coughed to hide her laugh._

_"'Special condition' huh?" Guy asked with a small smile, "Well, maybe I just need a special lady to condition me."_

_The others stopped walking and looked at him as if to ask, 'Really?' and then slowly shifted their gazes to Alex, their expressions staying the same._

_"There is no way I am being connected to that line," Alex deadpanned._

* * *

_"So I care about you! ... Is that so bad?"_

_Before she could even get used to suddenly being in front of Sheridan's town hall, she was suddenly in Tataroo Valley, after Guy had just saved Anise from falling to her death._

_"I...care...about you too."_

_"Does that mean you're going to tell me what's been bothering you?"_

_The scene started to fade again as she let out a quiet laugh._

_"No, I don't think so. Not now anyway."_

* * *

_The group was taking a break in the flower bed atop Tataroo Valley, and Alex was off on her own, watching the others and looking at the flowers. For a while all she could hear was the sound of the ocean and the others talking, and in Luke and Tear's case, arguing, before-_

_"Here."_

_She looked up and saw Guy standing before her, holding out a plate with a small piece of cake on it._

_"Thanks..." she said, taking it from him, "Where did-?"_

_"Tear made it in Sheridan, apparently. She said Tamara gave her the recipe. It's pretty good, and you don't look like you've been eating properly lately."_

_She looked down at the cake, trying to ignore the last bit of that sentence._

_"So you got away from Anise then?"_

_Guy laughed, "Yeah. With some help from Ion."_

_She looked up from her cake and noticed that once again Tear was giving Luke the silent treatment, much to his distaste. He looked upset that she was ignoring him._

_"What did he do this time?" she asked Guy, not looking away from them._

_"He made a big deal about how surprising it was that Tear baked a cake."_

_"...Moron."_

_Guy laughed, "Yeah, he's not exactly the brightest is he?"_

_"Yeah..." there was a pregnant pause between them that even making fun of Luke couldn't fill, and Alex had to think of something to say, "Sheridan has a capacity core shop, right? I still need to get a new one." Alex remembered how her sword and capacity core were taken away when she was being held in Baticul and she had to get new ones._

_"Oh, yeah that's right," Guy said, suddenly pulling something out of his pocket. A shiny new capacity core hanging from some blue string, very similar to the one she'd had before then._

_Alex's eyes widened a little as he handed it to her, "You didn't have to-"_

_"Don't worry about it," he interrupted, holding up a hand, "You needed one."_

The sun will shine

_"Wait!" Anise cried, spinning to look at Alex and Guy as they made their way through Mt. Zaleho, "You guys are moving in together?"_

_There was a pause as everyone turned to look at them, and they froze on the spot._

_"Well?" Anise asked, her eyes sparkling._

_"U-um, well-"_

_"Does this mean you two are finally dating?" Anise asked with a giggle, "Congratulations, Guy! I guess you really are over your phobia!"_

_"N-no!" he protested, "We're not dating. I just thought that-"_

_"If you aren't a couple," Natalia crossed her arms, looking unimpressed. Alex still didn't understand why that was. "Then why would you be moving in together? It seems inappropriate."_

_"So Guy got you to defect to Malkuth, huh?" Luke asked._

_Alex felt like facepalming, "Luke, I'm going to give you a second to think about that question before I point out how ridiculously stupid it was."_

_"R-right. I keep forgetting you're actually _from _Malkuth..."_

_"I'm happy for you two!" Mieu squeaked suddenly, hopping up and down on beside Luke._

_"Th-thanks, Mieu..." Guy said uncertainly, "Could we drop this for now and maybe get moving again? I don't want to stay in here any longer than we have to."_

_Then she was in Mt. Roneal again, being carried by Guy. She was happy that he really was starting to get over his phobia. When she thought about it, that broken ankle really wasn't such a bad thing...Though things would have gone much smoother for everybody had the two of them not fallen off the side of the mountain in the first place. She still had no idea what was going on._

And surely you'll be safe and sound

_She heard Guy call her name once more, and the scene before her changed once again into Guy asking her to live with him._

_As the scene continued, she began to hear the others' voices as well. They all sounded panicked for some reason._

_Before she even had time to wonder why they sounded so panicked, she felt an incredible pain in her side that forced her thoughts out of her mind. The scene around her shattered, and she was left alone in darkness. _

She lay there on her back, her head slightly levitated, not knowing how she had even gotten into that position. The pain dulled, but was now spread throughout her entire body rather than just the side. Her head was swimming - she was sure that if she could see in the darkness, her vision would be extremely blurry.

The voices of her friends continued to echo around her.

She vaguely realized something warm and damp was flowing down her side, where the pain was the most intense. She tried to move her arm to feel it and find out what it was, but the limb was far too heavy. She managed to raise it a couple inches into the air before it fell limply next to her side again. The pain was beginning to subside, and with it, any sense of awareness that Alex still had.

She closed her eyes and took a deep, staggering breath.

Was this death? She didn't want to die… There was still so much in her life she had wanted to do, so much she'd had to look forward to.

She heard Guy's voice calling her name once again, much clearer this time, more desperate. She imagined his face, and Isabell's as well. What would their reactions be if she died?

She forced her heavy eyelids to open again, and this time she saw a lot of white, accompanied with the blurred outlines of who she was sure were her friends. She was sure that was Guy's hair she was seeing over her head anyway.

She tried to move her body again, but to no avail. She didn't want to die here. She couldn't die here. Not like this.

Not when she was finally going to live her own life.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story so far, particularly my repeat reviewers! You guys keep me going!**


	38. Haunt

_Chapter 38: Haunt  
_

_She was dying, and there was nothing he could do about it. He wanted desperately to tell Saphir to stop his shouting for him to help her, his crying was disrupting his thought process.  
_

"Jade!"

_The snow around her body was slowly being dyed red with her blood. Trying to help would be pointless, she was going to die. There was only one option-_

"Dammit, Jade, snap out of it and help us!"

The words were met with with sharp pain as the speaker punched Jade in the face, effectively snapping him back into reality. Jade showed no sign of pain as he readjusted his glasses and slowly shifted his gaze to Luke, who was looking up at him with both panic and anger in his eyes. When it became clear that he had the colonel's attention, the redhead quickly moved a few feet away to an unconscious Tear and started to shake her awake.

"Wake up Natalia," Luke told him as he roused Tear, "Alex needs to be healed fast, and they're the only ones who can do it. Apple gels aren't going to cut it this time."

Even Jade knew that this wasn't the time to make a sarcastic comment about how to treat one's elders, and his gaze then slowly shifted back to the source of all the commotion, and why he had been thrown back to his memory of Nebilim's death.

It wasn't Nebilim's blood that he was seeing in the snow, but Alex's. He forced himself to tear his eyes away from her figure lying in the snow and searched around him for Natalia as Luke had told him. She was only a couple feet away from him, and he quickly shook her awake, explaining to her that Alex needed to be healed. Natalia reacted quickly and moved to Alex's side without any hesitation, Tear was already there, as were Luke and Guy, who was holding her steady.

Jade finally took a moment to take in what had happened to her, and he wondered how he had missed the large icicle protruding from her side. Her blood had melted a couple inches on the outside of the icicle, which had caused more blood to pour from the wound. The icicle was thick, not surprising for a place like Mt. Roneal, and the couple inches that had melted were nothing compare to the rest of it.

She'd already lost a lot of blood, it appeared that it had taken a while for anyone to regain consciousness, and her breath was extremely shallow and ragged. The chances of survival didn't look great. If it weren't for the fact that they had two healers, or if they had regained consciousness a few moments later, there would be nothing they could do.

For a brief second, Jade actually almost considered a replica, before he recalled seeing the Nebilim replica he'd created kill a soldier without reason before his very eyes. He hated himself for considering the idea, even if it was only for a moment.

Old habits die hard.

Mieu, Anise, and Ion had finally woken up from the commotion taking place, as Luke and Guy had been trying to rouse Alex with their voices while Natalia and Tear assessed the damage. Having pushed the memory of Nebilim fully out of his head, Jade approached the others.

"Everyone, calm down," he tried speaking over their voices as quietly as possible. The last thing they needed right now was another avalanche. All he got in response for his words were glares from everyone but the two healers and Ion, whose eyes stayed firmly on Alex. Natalia had started using a healing arte to stop the blood flow.

"We'll have to remove the icicle before we can heal her fully," Tear finally said, "It's thick enough that it shouldn't melt as it's taken out."

"Where did the icicle even come from?..." Anise asked quietly.

Jade looked up at the shelf above them, and noticed various broken off icicles right above where Alex had the misfortune to land in the avalanche. He looked around where they were grouped together and noticed icicles laying scattered all around them as well.

Alex had landed in a very unfortunate place.

Guy continued to hold onto Alex as Luke proceeded to pull the icicle from her side. He did it slowly, so he wouldn't cause her too much more pain, but Alex was slowly regaining consciousness as he pulled the icicle out.

Anise had to help Guy in holding Alex still, as she was beginning to protest to the pain Luke was causing by removing the icicle. She stopped trying to thrash around once the icicle was fully out and Natalia had begun to heal her, Tear on the other side of her ready to continue if Natalia couldn't carry on. They were all already exhausted from navigating the harsh mountain, as well as fighting the God-Generals earlier on. They were all bruised and battered, but all in all had nothing to complain about compared to Alex.

As Natalia healed her, some of the blood that was still around the wound flowed back into her body before the wound closed, leaving behind a small scar where the icicle had impaled her. Tear quickly explained that if she and Natalia could have healed her sooner, she wouldn't have had a scar. Along with the scar, Alex was left with holes and bloodstains in her coat and top just above her left hip.

Alex managed to maintain consciousness for a while, though it was clear she was dizzy from the loss of blood. She didn't even seem to know what was going on around her. She tried to move into a sitting position but couldn't, in the end Guy was left holding her up. He looked too worried to even notice he was making contact with her.

While she was sitting up, Anise took the opportunity to take off the scarf Alex had lent her at the foot of the mountain, and wrapped it around her midsection to cover up the holes in her clothes. Jade had the feeling the young girl no longer had the heart to complain about the cold.

Ion was the first to speak, "You really are getting better with you phobia, aren't you, Guy?"

Guy didn't respond, he didn't even seem to notice Ion had spoken to him. He was too busy asking Alex how she was feeling now that she was conscious again.

Alex didn't seem to hear his question, but she was staring up at him. Guy asked her one more time how she was feeling, but Alex seemed to have something else on her mind.

"...Your hair was weird."

Everyone stared at her for a few moments, not saying anything. They all looked confused, particularly Guy.

"Is she going crazy?" Anise asked Tear worriedly. Tear didn't respond.

"On Hod..." Alex continued, "You had a bowl cut."

More silence, then-

"You scare us half to death and that's the first thing you have to say?" Guy replied with a quiet laugh.

"Sorry."

Guy sighed, "I'm just glad you're alright."

Jade cleared his throat and answered Ion's earlier question, "I'd say it was more the thought that Alex's life was in danger that allowed him to act. It was the same when Anise was falling off the cliff in Tataroo Valley."

Luke looked over at him with his eyes slightly narrowed, "Or when you caused that accident earlier that made Alex and Guy fall over the side of the mountain?"

Jade sighed; he knew they weren't going to let him live that down any time soon. Thinking about it, this entire situation was caused by the group being separated, which was his fault. In a way, it could be Jade's fault that Alex had come so close to death. "Yes, exactly."

Tear, who was inspecting Alex closely as if looking for any more possible wounds, addressed Luke, "Still, it's an improvement," she looked up at Alex's face, "How are you feeling?"

It took a moment for her to respond, "Dizzy... Confused. I can't see straight."

"You lost a lot of blood," Tear explained, "You probably shouldn't walk for a while."

"Are you still in pain?" Natalia asked her, "Perhaps another healing arte might help a little?"

Alex shook her head. "I don't feel any pain, but...I'm having trouble feeling much of anything right now."

"That's probably to do with the blood loss," Tear said, "It'll take some time for her to recover fully. Natalia and I will be able to shorten that time with our healing artes, but it'll still take a while."

"Either way," Luke said, looking down at Alex, "She shouldn't be on her feet, right? I can carry her."

"I'd like to do it," Guy said, "If it's not too much trouble."

Jade watched as Guy helped her to her feet, trying to think of the best way to tell him it wasn't a good idea. "...I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with that, Guy."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?" Guy asked confusedly, "I can do it - I did it earlier."

Anise looked curiously at him, "Whaaat? When?"

"She broke her ankle when we fell off that mountain side, I had to carry her," Guy explained offhandedly, not taking his eyes off of Jade.

"But then how was she fighting the God-Generals with you when we arrived?" Anise pressed on.

"Legretta healed it. Something about the situation being unfair for us."

Tear seemed the most shocked by this statement, "Major Legretta..."

"My apologies, I was unclear," Jade started, not apologetic in the least about interrupting their conversation, "We're already down one swordsman, I would prefer to have both yours and Luke's hands free as we proceed."

"But..."

"I'm sorry, Guy," Natalia started, crossing her arms, "But I believe that the Colonel is right. It wouldn't be fair to Luke if he had to fight on your behalf as well as Alex's. It'll be safer for everyone this way as well."

Guy looked like he was trying hard to think of an argument for her logic, and everyone was quiet for a few moments before Luke started up, looking at Jade.

"Couldn't you or Anise help me out at the frontlines for a bit?"

"I don't have a problem with that," Anise nodded.

Jade sighed, he supposed Guy wasn't likely to be really focused on battle if a monster attacked anyway, "If something happens, I won't be held accountable for it."

Truthfully, he still didn't much care for the idea of having only one swordsman, but he knew they wouldn't see eye to eye, and there wasn't much point in arguing. It was odd; before he met this group of people, he never would have backed down that easily.

"We're lucky this was right below where we fell," Guy said as he carefully hoisted Alex onto his back with Luke's help, "Who knows what would have happened if we didn't stop here..."

"Then those three God-Generals are..."

"They fell into the ravine," Anise confirmed Luke's thoughts, and they all looked over at Tear. They all knew she had history with Legretta, yet Jade couldn't detect a trace of emotion on her face.

"It's all right," she shook her head, "We would have killed Major Legretta regardless. She was an enemy."

No one said anything for a few moments, until Ion spotted something just a few feet away. Jade wondered how they had missed it before, then figured it was most likely due to how concerned they were over Alex's well being.

"It's the passage ring entrance," Ion said as he approached the door, Anise right behind him, "I'll unlock the seal."

"Of all the places..." Luke muttered, staring at the multicolored door.

"In a way," Jade put his hands in his pockets, "We were fortunate to have been caught in the avalanche." He glanced at Alex, "Though some of us were more fortunate than others..."

Ion made quick work of unlocking the seal, and Anise caught him when he fell over from the exhaustion.

"You were still tired from climbing the mountain and everything else that happened," she scolded him, "You shouldn't push yourself!"

"It's okay, Anise," Ion said, "This was the last one. I'm glad I could be of help."

"Thanks, Ion," Luke said, smiling at the green-haired boy, "Let's go."

Jade walked in the back of the group while Luke was in the front with Anise. Tear and Natalia were on either side of the group, and Guy, Alex, and Ion were in the middle, safest from harm if a monster attacked.

Luke turned his head back to look at Guy as they entered the Sephiroth, "Hey, Guy?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Did you seriously have a bowl cut?"

Anise giggled, "Yeah, it's hard to picture someone like Guy with a haircut like that. I bet you looked like a real dork on Hod."

Alex quickly fell asleep on Guy's back, and Jade couldn't help but notice her start to shiver, probably because of the holes in her clothes.

* * *

"Tear, are you okay?" Luke asked the brunette as she approached the floating fonstone in the center of the platform.

"If you mean in regard to the Major, I'm fine."

Luke shook his head, "That's not all. The miasma..."

"Have you forgotten?" Tear asked him as she activated the passage ring. She looked to be in pain for a few moments after the Seventh Fonons entered her body, but the medicine she was using seemed to suppress most of the pain. "We have to do what we can."

"Now, Luke," Jade said, turning to the redhead, whose eyes were firmly on Tear's back, "We just need to connect all the Sephiroth to the Absorption and Radiation Gates."

"Got it," Luke replied, taking Tear's place in front of the fonstone.

As Luke used his hyperressonance to control the passage ring, Guy put Alex down, since she had woken up again. He then went to remove his coat and give it to her, as she was still shivering, but Jade beat him to the chase, saying simply that he grew up in the area and was therefore used to cold as Guy looked at him confusedly. Alex took the coat gratefully as Jade went back to supervising Luke's usage of the passage ring.

She was still unable to stand on her own, so Guy continued to hold her up as Natalia again took to healing her for good measure, to speed up the regenerative process a little more.

"Okay, done."

"Now once we activate the two Gates, all the Sephiroth will connect," Anise said as Luke turned away from the fonstone.

The words were barely out of her mouth when an earthquake hit, stronger than the ones they had felt so far. Jade was hardly able to stay on his feet, where Natalia and Anise stumbled over. If Guy wasn't holding onto Alex, she would have fallen as well. It was a good thing they were so far from the edge of the platform, there would have been no way to survive that fall, and if they did, they'd be trapped in the core until death finally released them from the prison anyway.

"What's happening?" Natalia shouted over the rumbling of the earthquake.

"Did I screw something up?" Luke asked, looking frantically up at the passage ring's controls.

Jade followed his gaze, and it took only a few seconds for him to figure out what had just occurred after the earthquake died down. "Well played..."

"What is it?" Tear asked, her voice panicked for once, "What happened?"

"Memory particles are flowing in reverse from the Absorption Gate. It's stimulating the core by using the power of all the connected Sephiroth!"

"Only someone who could control the passage rings could do that," Guy said darkly.

"Van!" Tear clenched her fists, "But why...? He's at the Absorption Gate! If he reverses the flow of memory particles then the Sephiroth Tree where he is will be reversed, and the entire Tuft Archipelago will fall along with the gate."

"No," Jade said darkly, "We've made the power of all the world's Sephiroth to flow into the Absorption Gate. He's probably using the excess power from that to reverse the Sephiroth," the others were now all looking at him, a little confused. Alex looked like she was having a hard enough time staying conscious, let alone keeping up. He knew only a couple of them were able to comprehend what he was saying, so he made it simpler for the rest of them, "In fact, if anything's going to fall, it'll be everything _except_ the Absorption Gate."

"We're sure as hell not letting that happen!" Luke said with a glare.

"Hey," Anise said suddenly, her eyes widening in realization, "The Tartarus is neutralizing the vibration in the core right? If this stimulates the core..."

Jade saw where she was going with that immediately, and he mentally commended the Commandant for being as brilliant as he was powerful. He truly was a worthy opponent, but this was no time to sit around admiring how seemingly flawless his plans were.

"That Tartarus will break apart!" Natalia gasped.

"Damn it!" Luke shouted, his eyes on the ground. He was shaking in anger, "We have to stop Master Van!"

"But right now Ion needs some rest," Anise said worriedly, "And Alex isn't in any condition to fight either! We can't go up against the Commandant the way we are now, we'd be killed in a second!"

"I'm sorry..." Ion said, his voice full of shame.

Guy shook his head, "Don't apologize. You've been risking your life to save us this whole time. Even Luke understands you need to rest, right?"

"Yeah, sorry, Ion."

"We'll stay the night in the passage ring and leave before dawn to get back to Keterburg," Jade told them, "There's no point in overexerting Alex and Ion just to get to the city, and we're all exhausted enough as it is. We'll go to the Absorption Gate tomorrow."

* * *

A few hours later, Jade woke up, taking a second to get over the feeling of floating in mid-air. Even without his glasses on, looking down through the see-through floors of the passage ring and into the core was something that took even him by surprise, even if it was only for a moment. Going to the passage rings always reminded him that the whole of the Outer Lands was floating in mid-air, and now thanks to Van, things were looking even worse than they were before.

Perhaps it was because it was never dark in the passage rings that he woke up so suddenly; because of the light he felt like it was morning, though he knew it was probably around midnight.

Apparently he wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping. He turned over and noticed Guy was sitting up with his blanket wrapped around him, watching over Alex as she slept soundly a couple feet away. Jade considered saying something to him, but Luke, who was apparently awake as well, beat him to the chase.

"Do you regret it?" he asked, and Jade noticed he was also sitting up a few feet away from them.

Guy looked over at the red-head, waiting for him to elaborate.

"Letting her join our group in the abandoned factory?"

Guy thought about it for a moment before looking back down at Alex, "It was you who let her and Natalia tag along, but no, I don't regret it. I think she's grown a bit as a person since then, and if she hadn't come along she would still be in Baticul, clueless about who she really is."

"You wouldn't have told her before moving to Grand Chokmah?"

Guy paused again, "Heh...I'm kind of a coward, aren't I? I like to think I would have told her before leaving, but I probably would have chickened out like every other time I tried to tell her."

"I think you would have told her," Luke protested, "I mean, you would have been leaving her in Baticul, wouldn't that make you want to tell her?"

"I would have found an excuse not to. Like saying I would visit you guys, or something. In all honestly, Pere probably would have ended up telling her if I'd left."

Jade decided it was time for him to speak, "...You both should get some rest. With any luck, we'll be headed to the Absorption Gate tomorrow. Van won't go easy on you if you're tired."

Guy nodded slowly before lying down, and Luke did the same. Jade knew they weren't going to be falling asleep quickly, he wouldn't actually be that surprised if Alex and Ion were the only ones really sleeping that night. They were headed to the Absorption Gate tomorrow to confront Van. It was all or nothing. If they failed, the Outer Lands would be destroyed.

They were all most likely too nervous to sleep.

Tear in particular Jade was a little worried about. It couldn't be easy to have to kill the only family member she had left, and she had so many other problems on top of that.

Normally, he wouldn't care so much about another person's problems, especially when she didn't even give the impression that she had any to begin with, but after traveling with the same group for months, he'd grown somewhat fond of their company. Though he would never admit it to them, it would be strange for him to go back to his normal life in Grand Chokmah. In a way, he would miss them.

Perhaps he was going soft.

At least he would have Alex and Guy in Grand Chokmah with him, it just wouldn't be the same without _someone_ to potentially drive crazy at all hours of the day.

...

"I don't understand why the Major and the others believe in Van's insane ideal," Tear said as the group arrived at the foot of the mountain, Jade leading them in the direction of Keterburg.

Alex still wasn't completely sure what had happened the day before, but the situation Van had caused with the Sephiroth had quickly been explained to her as they left the mountain. She was too drowsy to really take in the conversation the night before, but she understood why they were in such a hurry now.

As they got into the lower parts of the mountains, Alex started to walk on her own again. The conditions weren't as harsh, so she didn't have much difficulty, she was just a bit slower than usual. She was already feeling a lot better thanks to Natalia and Tear healing her, but some of the pain still lingered, and she was still tired. She was still wearing Jade's coat, since the holes in her clothes would have made traveling in the mountains unbearable and even more dangerous for her, but as she watched Jade in front of her, she had to wonder if there was some special kind of material or something in his uniform that kept him warm.

"I'm sure they each have their reasons," Guy told Tear as they continued toward the city, "I think I understand."

"Guy..." Natalia turned her head to him as they continued to walk, "But why?"

"For years, I'd promised to work together with Van to get revenge on the Duke. If I'd taken a slightly different path somewhere, I might have been on their side."

"Even knowing the world Master Van is trying to create?" Luke asked.

Guy closed his eyes, "If that meant that Hod...that my family and friends would come back, even as replicas, that's fine with me..."

Alex could understand where he was coming from, she even had her doubts about what they were doing, though those were mostly because of Isabell. But even her sister was on the fence about who to side with, she seemed to want to stop Van, but not enough to oppose him. She wondered if she only wanted to stop Van because of Alex. Up until a while ago, Isabell had been trying to convince her to join the God-Generals.

When she thought about it, did they really even know enough about what they were doing to know if they were doing the right thing? What if Van was the one who was right, as twisted as his plans were? They'd seen the Seventh Fonstone, right?

"...That's how I might have thought. Honestly, even now, I'm not sure what's right."

Luke hesitated, "Yeah. You lost your home."

"Presumably, each God-General has something care about so strongly that they would destroy the world," Jade said from in front of everyone. Alex wondered if it was the other way around for some of them. Sync didn't seem to have anything he cared about, he didn't even seem to care about his own life - he called himself trash. For him, maybe it was his hatred of the Score, that led to the creation of the original Ion's replicas, that made him join forces with Van. "Those feelings must co-incide with Van's ideal."

"We're both trying to preserve mankind," Luke said, "So why's Master Van so far apart from us?"

"A world that keeps originals, and a world that kills them," Tear said, her eyes on her feet, "So close, yet so very far."

* * *

As they entered the city, Noelle came racing toward them, "I've been waiting for you!"

"Noelle!" Luke said as she approached them and stopped to catch her breath, "What are you doing here?"

Noelle looked a little nervous, "...A-actually, the Albiore's hover drive has frozen over in the cold."

"Whaaat?" Anise demanded as everyone took in this information with wide eyes. Alex sighed. Of course. Why wouldn't something like this happen at such a crucial time?

"I'm working with Nephry to repair it," Noelle explained, "But it'll take at least the rest of the night."

"Oh..." Luke sighed, "I was hoping we could set out as soon as we got here. We'll be leaving Ion here anyway right? There wouldn't have been much point in staying here while he rested."

"Oh, well," Guy shrugged, "Some things can't be helped."

"Yes," Tear agreed, "Let's use this time to prepare for tomorrow."

In a way, Alex was a little relieved they wouldn't be going straight to the Absorption Gate. She knew they were in a hurry, but she was at least glad she had a little more time to recuperate.

"Our enemy is Dorian General Grants. You saw what he was like in Belkend. We need to be as prepared as we can."

Luke nodded as Noelle ran back in the direction she came from, and he turned to Guy, "Hey, do you think I could borrow you for some sword practice then?"

Guy looked a little startled by the sudden request, "Huh? What for, all of a sudden?"

"Are you worried, Luke?" Jade asked.

"I've never fought Van for real before," the red-head replied, his eyes on the ground, "So yeah, I guess."

"Well," Guy said, his thumb and forefinger on his chin in thought, "He's a top-class swordsman, and a Seventh Fonist on top of that. I can't blame you." He paused and smiled at Luke, "Alright, let's go practice! I could use the workout myself."

Jade adjusted his glasses, "Perhaps I'll take advantage of this opportunity too."

The boys looked over at him, a little shocked. The three of them seemed to have forgotten about everyone else.

"That's unusual," Luke smirked.

"And to what do we owe this honor?"

"I'm not particularly fond of such activities," Jade sighed, "But after all, we can't afford to lose here."

"Okay," Anise said as the boys finished up their conversation, "I'll go leave Ion with Nephry while you guys get ready for tomorrow." Without saying anything else, she took Ion's hand and led him away.

"Alright then," Natalia said, "Let's split up here for tonight and make preparations."

The boys left the city once again to do some training where civilians couldn't get injured, Mieu tagging along with Luke, and the girls were left on their own for a while. Tear agreed to go shopping for items and equipment they might need while Natalia accompanied Alex to book rooms at the hotel. After they booked their rooms, they both went to Alex's room.

"Are you nervous?" the princess asked when they both discarded their coats and took seats, Alex on the bed, and Natalia in a nearby armchair, "For tomorrow, I mean."

"A little..." Alex replied, "Okay, a lot. We're going up against Van tomorrow. We all know he's a lot stronger than us, and on top of that, I have some doubts about whether or not what we're doing is right."

"What do you mean?" Natalia asked, her eyes widening slightly, "If we fail to defeat Van and lower the Outer Lands safely, then they will fall and everyone will be killed. I cannot allow that!"

Alex nodded, her eyes on her feet dangling below her, "You're right. It's just, I'm a little confused because of Isabell. She doesn't really seem to know what to do with herself either."

"Yes," Natalia calmed herself down, "She did seem conflicted the last time we saw her. I couldn't imagine what it must be like to go against your own flesh and blood."

Alex let out a small laugh, "Nah, it's nothing compared to what it must be like for Tear. I just found out Isabell's my sister a little while ago, and Isabell isn't as hellbent on destroying the Outer Lands as he is." She paused for a moment, "But Van _raised _Tear. I would never be able to do what we're doing if Isabell had raised me instead of being brought up by the Duke. I might have even been on their side."

"Yes, you're right," Natalia said thoughtfully, "Have noticed that Tear's been acting a bit strangely lately as well?"

"Who can blame her?" Alex asked with a sigh as she fell back on the bed, "She'll be fighting her brother, most likely to the death, tomorrow. An important figure in her life was just killed yesterday, and on top of it all she has a life-threatening condition and she's still pushing herself to keep going, knowing she could possibly die. I'd be more surprised if she was acting like everything was normal."

"If Tear's that determined after all of that, then none of us have any reason to hesitate." Natalia said, "But she is not fighting alone, she has us by her side. I promised my father that we would lower the lands and save our people. I'm not doing this for myself. My people are counting on me, and I refuse to let them down. The arrow of Natalia Luzu-Kimlasca Lanvaldear shall strike down Van and end his plan for the world's destruction!"

Alex's eyes stared up at the pale blue ceiling, "Yeah... We can't back down now after coming this far."

The door to the room burst open and Alex sat bolt upright at the sudden sound while Natalia turned in her seat to look at the doorway. Anise charged right into the middle of the room, catching her breath. She must have been running for some reason.

"I-Ion is safely with Nephry," Anise said quickly, before doubling over and waiting to catch her breath before continuing. "I talked to the receptionist and she said you'd already booked rooms, I checked all of them before finally coming here."

"Is something wrong, Anise?" Alex asked, wondering why she would be in such a hurry to find them.

"Yes," Natalia asked, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Oh," Anise giggled nervously, her cheeks a little red, "No emergency or anything. I was just wondering if Alex wanted me to fix her clothes for her."

Alex blinked and then looked down at the hole and bloodstains on the side of her top and then looked over to her torn and bloody coat, she'd almost forgotten they were even there. She looked back up at the small girl before her with a smile, "You don't have to worry about it, Anise. I'll take care of it later."

Anise narrowed her eyes at her, "No way!" Alex was a little surprised she was being so adamant, "You're still recovering, you need to rest! I'll take care of your clothes for you."

Alex raised an eyebrow at the girl, "Really, Anise, I'm fi-"

"No buts!" Anise told her as she ran over to Alex's bag and pulled out her nightgown. She moved back over to Alex and held out the article of clothing for her to take, her eyes still narrowed at the older girl.

Was she seriously being ordered around by a thirteen-year-old?

Alex sighed and took the nightgown from her, "Fine. I'll be right back." She reluctantly got up and headed to the adjoining bathroom, closing the door behind her before getting changed. She didn't fully realize how horrible her clothes really looked until she saw herself in a mirror. They were even a little hard to remove because the blood had long since dried and hardened. They probably smelled horrible too. If Alex hadn't grown accustomed to the smell she would most likely be overwhelmed by the stench of copper.

It wasn't just her clothes that looked bad either. Once she had changed out of them, she noticed that she had dried up blood all around where her would had been too. She grabbed the complimentary house coat that was hanging in the bathroom without even putting on her nightgown and left the room to give Anise her clothes. She was going to have a shower before she did anything else.

As soon as Anise had the clothes and Alex had thanked her, she rushed out of the room and toward her own, where she probably already had her sewing supplies waiting for her, and Alex told Natalia she was going to have a shower. Natalia nodded and stood up, heading toward the door.

"Before I leave," she said as she stood in the doorway, "Are you still in any pain?"

Alex shook her head, "No, I'm fine now, thanks. Just a little bit lightheaded, I'll be fine to go to the Absorption Gate tomorrow."

Natalia nodded, "Alright. Rest well."

"Thanks, you too."

* * *

Hardly minutes after Alex had showered and changed into her nightgown, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in!"

The door opened and Jade walked in, a worried looking Isabell in tow.

"I ran into her outside the city and explained what happened," Jade answered Alex's unasked question.

"You're really alright?" Isabell asked, immediately closing the distance between the two of them and inspecting her for any injuries.

Alex laughed, reminded slightly of how Suzanne would always fuss over her and Luke after training back in the manor, "I'm fine now, really. Natalia and Tear healed me."

Isabell looked Alex in the eyes for a moment, "If you're sure..."

Alex nodded and sat down on her bed again, Isabell joining her shortly after.

Jade remained standing, but turned to Alex, "There's something I wanted to ask you."

"No one's stopping you."

Jade paused, seeming to think about his words, "Are you certain you'll be ready to go to the Absorption Gate tomorrow?"

Alex sighed, she'd expected someone to ask her this, "I'm sure. There's no way I'm not joining you guys tomorrow."

"It'll be dangerous," Isabell told her.

"And what we've been doing up until now hasn't been dangerous?"

"I had a feeling you would react this way," Jade said.

There was another knock on the door and Guy entered. He looked slightly surprised to see Jade and Isabell there.

"Alex refuses to stay behind while we go to the Absorption Gate," Jade informed him as he took a seat in the chair next to her bed.

"That information really doesn't surprise me."

Jade sighed, "It's almost as if her injury affected her brain as well. In normal circumstances it would be fine, but in her current condition she wouldn't stand a chance against Van."

His words were met with glares from Guy and Isabell. Alex knew he was right, but that didn't make her want to stay behind while the others took care of everything. Besides, if they were alone, none of them would stand a chance against Van, together they might be able to beat him.

Isabell spoke before Alex could say anything to him, "You can be a real asshole sometimes, you know that?" Everyone shot their heads in her direction, surprised somebody had actually said it. Isabell sighed before continuing, "But without that loving sense of humor of yours, we'd probably be a hell of a lot more depressed than we are right now. So thank you, Jade, for that beautiful bit of sick twistedness that reminds us all that we're still fairly normal compared to you."

There were a few moments of silence before Jade actually started to laugh. Alex had a feeling that that was the first time in a while someone had actually said something like that to him.

"By the way," Isabell continued, "I came to Keterburg for a reason."

"Would you care to tell us what that reason is?" Jade asked.

"Patience, Necromancer, I was getting to it. I want to join you when you go to the Absorption Gate."

"I don't have any problem with that," Alex said immediately, happy for the chance to spend some more time with her sister.

"Sounds fine to me," Guy shrugged.

"Yes, I think we can trust her. The others will have to be informed. Well then," Jade turned to Guy, "Let's leave these two alone, shall we?"

Guy looked reluctant, but sighed and agreed, following Jade out the door.

After they were gone, Alex proceeded to tell Isabell all about what she had seen when she was unconscious. It had been on her mind since they left Mt. Roneal, and she was glad she could finally talk to someone about it. Isabell looked a little disturbed when Alex told her about their parents' deaths, but she didn't interrupt her.

"Mother used to sing that lullaby to us every night," she said when Alex finished, "I still remember the lyrics."

Alex smiled, but something else was on her mind, "Would you really be okay with having to kill Van?"

Isabell hesitated, "...No. But it has to be done, right? You can't let Auldrant be destroyed."

Alex had the feeling Isabell was a lot more reluctant to kill him than she let on, but it didn't seem to be something she wanted to talk about, so she didn't ask anything more.

"Alright," Isabell said, "We've got the Absorption Gate in the morning, so let's get some rest, okay? You need it."

Alex nodded as Isabell got up and walked over to the door, then she suddenly remembered something.

"Hey, Bell?"

"Hm?" Isabell turned her head back to look at her.

"Did I ever apologize...for forgetting about you?"

It took her a few moments to respond, and she turned back to the door when she did so Alex couldn't see her face, "You don't have to apologize for that. It's not your fault."

"Alright. I'm still sorry though."

Isabell sighed, "Alex-"

"Could you do me a favor before you leave?"

"Anything."

"Can you sing Mother's lullaby for me?"

"...Of course."

* * *

Morning came entirely too soon, and Alex groaned loudly as Isabell shook her awake. She opened her eyes slightly and was taken aback by the fact that she had her hair down. It seemed a lot longer now that it wasn't up.

"Come on," she said, "If you want to go to the Absorption Gate you're gonna have to wake up. Van's not about to wait so you can sleep in. Nor will the Outer Lands wait to fall."

Alex yawned, "Fine... Just let me get dressed."

Isabell was already dressed, and handed Alex her clothes before proceeding to pull her hair up. "Anise just dropped them off. Good as new."

Alex nodded as Isabell left the room, and quickly got dressed, making a mental note to thank Anise.

As she finished getting dressed, someone knocked on her door. She was getting a little sick of how popular the whole icicle incident had made her. When she told them to enter, Guy walked in.

"What's up?" she asked, sitting back down on her bed, noticing he was scratching the back of his head. He only did that when he was nervous.

"Well..." he sat down next to her, "When you regained consciousness after Natalia healed you the other day, you told me that I had weird hair back on Hod."

Was he going somewhere with this? Why was he bringing it up now?

"And...?"

Guy smirked at her, "You obviously remembered something about Hod then, or you never would have said it."

"Oh!" Alex's eyes widened, "That's what you mean. Yeah, I remembered a few things."

Guy looked at her, as if waiting for her to continue.

"Just a few things though, like the fact that we didn't get along, your weird haircut, and that you used to cry all the time according to Mary."

Guy coughed, "Yeah, we don't need to talk about that..." he paused for a moment before raising an eyebrow at her, "And for the record we didn't get along because you always used to cheat at every game we played."

"Okay, I'm sorry!" Alex said, raising her hands in the air, "I was three, like it matters now."

Guy laughed, "Is that all you remembered?"

"No..." Alex paused, "I remember the war. And my parents' deaths."

Guy didn't say anything - he probably couldn't think of anything _to_ say to her after that.

"And I saw them too, when I was dying. They spoke to me."

Guy remained quiet as Alex recalled seeing her parents in that room. Alex wondered what would have happened to her if she had reached her parents before Guy called out to her. She probably would have been too far gone by then to save.

"Thank you, by the way."

Guy was a little confused by that, "What for?" he laughed.

"Your voice woke me up," Alex told him, "I would've died if..."

"Natalia's the one who healed you. She saved your life, not me."

Alex didn't think there was any way for her to explain it to him without sounding crazy, so she decided to change the subject.

"I almost died..." she said slowly, her eyes on the ground. It had taken her that long to fully realize that she had almost lost her life, "If Mt. Roneal was that hard to deal with, there's no telling what's waiting for us at the Absorption Gate, other than Van." Without thinking, she leaned her head on Guy's shoulder, staring off into the space in front of her. Guy froze at first, but slowly relaxed.

"You're nervous." It wasn't a question.

Alex sighed, "Yeah. It's Van, it's not going to be easy."

"Things were easy before?" Guy asked, lightly resting his head on top of hers.

"You know what I mean," Alex said, a little shocked that Guy had actually done that, "If the God-Generals were all hard to defeat, just imagine how difficult Van will be. We may not all make it out this fight alive..."

"That's...kind of why I'm here," Guy said, taking his head off of hers, "I have something I want to ask you."

Alex lifted her head from Guy's shoulder and looked up at him. Their eyes met and he froze again slightly before taking a deep breath. Without any warning, he slowly closed his eyes and started to lean in. Alex's eyes widened as she realized what he was doing and her heart started to beat like crazy. Butterflies in her stomach started going haywire as she leaned in closer to him, closing her eyes as well...

They jumped about a foot away from each other when the door opened unexpectedly and Jade walked in unannounced.

"Ah..." Jade coughed, pushing his glasses up his nose as Alex and Guy quickly moved away from each other. "I was wondering what was taking you so long. We've been waiting for you, couldn't you have had this...discussion last night?"

Guy shot him a glare at that, and it hit Alex that he had probably come to her room the night before with the intention of talking to her.

"Is it like your goal or something to make us hate you?" Alex asked without thinking.

Jade looked at her for a moment, "Actually, my goal is to gain as much knowledge as I can before I die."

"That seems oddly noble for you," Guy told him.

"Of course, my other goal _is_ to drive you youngsters crazy before I reach forty."

"Mission accomplished..." Alex muttered, earning a slight smile from Guy before he thought about Jade's comment for a moment.

"...Wait. Are we really going to know you for that long?"

Jade shrugged, "I'm afraid I'm not that easy to get rid of."

Alex smirked, "Sort of like Dist?" she suggested in an innocent voice.

"Alex!" Jade exclaimed in a mock-hurt tone, "I'm hurt that you would even suggest such a thing. I was referring to the fact that the both of you are moving to Grand Chokmah. I'm certain we'll be seeing a lot of each other if that's the case."

Oh yeah, she had forgotten about that with all that had happened.

Jade continued to go on about how he hadn't yet managed to drive them crazy during their journey, and proceeded to tell them that he would like something to look forward to.

Guy and Alex both groaned as they stood up.

"Alright, alright!" Alex said, "We're coming, shut up already."

"Now, is that any way to speak to your elder?"

Alex simply glared at him.

"Ah, I see. You're upset that I interrupted what was surely an important discussion. My apologies. Shall I give you two a moment?"

Alex sighed, annoyed. Of all the times Jade could have chosen to enter her room, it had to be the exact moment Guy looked like he was finally over his phobia enough to kiss her. If he had arrived just a minute later...

"No thanks. Let's just get going to the Absorption Gate."

She took a small moment to steel herself before passing Jade and leaving the room. They would be facing Van today if things went according to plan. It was almost hard to believe their journey together was practically over, and everyone would be going their own separate ways soon.

However this would end, it would end today.

* * *

_**A/N: You didn't think Cock Blocker Jade was going to make just one appearance, did you?**_


	39. The Absorption Gate: Part 1

_**A/N: I do not own Tales of the Abyss.**_

_**Thanks for all the reviews, guys.**_

* * *

_Chapter 39: The Absorption Gate: Part 1  
_

After everyone had gathered in front of the hotel, they all made their way to Keterburg Bay, where Noelle was waiting for them, a fully repaired Albiore behind her. Ion and Nephry were also there to see them off.

Once Anise had promised to take care of things for Ion, and he and Nephry had wished them all luck, they all boarded the Albiore and headed to the Absorption Gate.

Guy and Alex hadn't had the chance to speak yet after Jade walked in on them that morning. It gave him time to think about what happened - or rather, what almost happened, before he showed up. But unlike where he was somehow grateful to Jade after he had interrupted them in Belkend, Guy wasn't so happy this time.

She had almost died on Mt. Roneal, and he realized during that whole incident that Luke was right about what he said in the Meggiora Highlands. There wasn't a guarantee that they would all make it out alive. Guy had gone this long hoping that if held things off, that might improve their chances of living - give them a reason to stay alive, but doing that couldn't really help that much.

He hadn't actually gone to see her that morning with the intention of explaining his thoughts about this. He had actually gone to try and convince her to stay behind with Ion and regain her strength. But at some point during their conversation he had realized how impossible it would be to convince her, so he had changed tactics.

He had almost kissed her. It was strange, thinking that at the beginning of this journey he'd thought he had no chance of ever getting over his phobia, but now... Even the thought that he had _almost_ kissed Alex made him happy for himself. He was just that much closer to getting over his phobia altogether.

He still wasn't happy with Jade for interrupting though. Thanks to that, they were heading to the Absorption Gate to face Van without having settled anything. Of all the places they had gone so far, Guy was the most worried about this one. Not only was Van incredibly powerful, but the monsters there were supposed to be really strong as well. Still, those monsters were nothing compared to Van.

Guy's only comfort for the final battle was the fact that they had him outnumbered.

"How long until we reach the Absorption Gate?" Jade asked from his seat at the front next to Noelle's.

"About three hours," Noelle replied.

Jade turned in his seat to face the rest of them, "We have approximately three hours to prepare ourselves for what's to come. If any of you have any unfinished business that can be taken care of on the Albiore, feel free. Of course this time could also be spent on coming up with strategies..."

Guy was barely listening to him, and rather staring at nothing in particular through the window beside him.

"Guy?" Alex asked from her seat beside him.

"Hmm?" He turned his head from the window to face her, and was completely taken by surprise when he did, his eyes widening when she kissed him. It only lasted for a second, and before Guy could even fully register what was happening, it was over.

"Sorry," she said as she let go of his hands and sat back down in her seat, which she had pinned to his sides so he couldn't instinctively push her away, "I just...wanted to do that."

Guy was unable to form words. The initial shock of what had just happened hadn't gone away; his eyes were still wide as he stared at her, and his heart was pounding in his chest. He had completely forgotten that the others were even there until Natalia cleared her throat.

Dreading what they were going to say more than he dreaded facing Van, they both turned to face the other members of the group. Anise looked happy for them, but went back to sorting the things in her bag without a word. Luke, who was in one of the seats opposite them, smirked while giving a thumbs up like he had in Sheridan when Guy had blurted out that he cared about Alex. Tear who was beside Luke, seemed to have not noticed anything, and continued to stare out her window. She had been off in her own little world lately, and Guy wasn't foolish enough to ask why. She had to be the most conflicted out of all of them.

Jade had merely pushed his glasses up the ridge of his nose and turned back to face the front of the Albiore, and Noelle was too busy piloting the aircraft to notice anything. Mieu was the first to say anything, congratulating them happily while jumping up and down on the spot, while Natalia shifted her gaze out the window beside her on the other side of the aircraft. Guy was a little surprised at how painless that was. Everyone must have been too nervous to really care, but he wasn't complaining about that.

"So I guess Mary was right after all," Isabell said with a smile from her seat beside Anise.

Guy was confused, and a little shocked at the mention of his sister. "What?"

"Mary and I made a little bet years ago on Hod about whether or not you two would end up together. I didn't think you would back then, seeing as the two of you never got along," Isabell shrugged, while Alex started blushing, "I guess Mary saw more than I did."

"Whaaat?" Anise asked, looking at Guy and Alex in shock, "No way! You two didn't get along on Hod? I thought it would be the other way around!"

Guy smiled as he recalled how he and Alex always used to fight on Hod. With every game they had tried to play together when their sisters were talking, Alex had always managed to find a way to cheat. He sometimes wondered if they would be as close as they were now if the Hod war had never occurred, but realized that it was pointless to wonder about that sort of thing.

As he was deep in thought, Luke sat down in the seat next to him, a smirk on his face. Guy had barely noticed him, since he was being more quiet than usual.

Guy raised an eyebrow at him, "What's up?"

"Nothing," Luke replied, the smirk vanishing from his face. He looked down into his lap and stayed quiet for a moment. He was obviously troubled by something, and Guy didn't have to ask to not what it was.

"You look serious," Guy told him.

"Really?" Luke asked, looking back at him, "Well, maybe so. We are going to fight Master Van after all."

Guy turned his head away from Luke to look out the window of the Albiore, taking in the falling snow and the wide ocean below them, "Yeah... We're going to fight Van." He still didn't know if what they were doing was right. He knew they had to save the Outer Lands, but he really didn't want to fight Van. Van had never shown anything but kindness to Guy in there days on Hod, and then later on when they met in the manor again. Back then, Guy had accepted his offer to help him in getting revenge on Duke Fabre and the Score for the destruction of Hod.

Guy couldn't help but wonder about what would have happened if he had never been sent to find Luke after he and Tear had disappeared. He might still be on Van's side, he could have even been a God-General by now. Would he have had the same thoughts about the reality of Van's plan if he had never joined Luke's group and witnessed the horrors of Akzeriuth? Now, he thought his plans were crazy and needed to be stopped, one way or the other, but if he had taken a slightly different path somewhere...

He also wondered how he hadn't noticed Van's change from the kind boy he was on Hod, to the man he was now. He still showed a certain degree of kindness to the people that mattered to him, in a way. He clearly didn't want to kill Tear, who he had tried to persuade into joining him several times.

Maybe, deep down, there was enough of the kinder Van from Hod that could be persuaded to change his mind, but Guy didn't get his hopes up.

He looked up again and noticed Luke was looking at hi with a strange expression on his face.

"Ah, sorry. I was just thinking about when we were kids."

Luke's eyes widened in realization, "That's right. You and Master Van were childhood friends."

Guy chuckled, remembering the past "Well, yeah. I used to be scared of everything. My sister used to scold me for not being a man. It was Van who always defended me."

"It's hard for me to imagine Master Van being a child," Luke said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't be stupid," Guy laughed, "Everyone was a kid once." He looked at Luke for a moment before turning his head away again, "Even you. Seven years old is still a child, you know."

"What are you talking about? I don't remember being that young!"

Guy laughed again, "You idiot, you're only seven now!"

Luke took a moment to think about what Guy said, "Oh...That's what you meant."

Guy grinned at him and ruffled his hair, much to the redheads protest, "You've got thirteen years before you're an adult. Enjoy your childhood."

"Thanks, Guy. I'm glad I grew up with you."

Guy still wasn't completely used to this new Luke. He had spent so many years with the bratty, selfish Luke that even after a couple months he was still adjusting to how suddenly different the boy beside him had become. It was a good different though, so he wasn't necessarily complaining, but there were a couple things about the old Luke that he sort of missed.

"Come on. Say 'shut up', or 'what a pain', or something. That'd be more like you."

Luke smirked at him, "All right. When this is all over, I'll say, 'Man that was a pain.'"

"That's all I ask," Guy smiled.

He turned his gaze back out the window, where the Absorption Gate was finally coming into view. The place was huge, and Guy already knew that it was going to take a while for them to get to Van. It would be difficult enough to defeat Van if they had thought of him as nothing more than a villain, but as he had some bonds with almost all the members of their group, this battle was going to be the most dangerous one they had had yet.

Guy had a bad feeling about what was to come.

* * *

"I feel a huge amount of fonons!" Mieu shouted as they approached the already-open door to the Absorption Gate.

"The Absorption Gate is one of the largest Sephiroth," Jade explained to the cheagle, "It's part of what creates the Planet Storm."

"You're staying here all alone, Noelle?" Guy asked the pilot, who had accompanied them to the entrance, "Don't you get scared doing that every time?"

Noelle shook her head, "Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine. I'll stay here and pray for your safety. Please take care!"

"Thanks. We'll see you when we get back!" Luke nodded at her and looked around at the others, "Ready guys?"

"You bet," Anise replied instantly, "I've got to stop the Commandant's scheme for Ion."

"Even if we have to take his life," Tear added, a look of both sadness and determination on her face. Guy couldn't imagine how hard this must have been for her.

"Are you really sure, Tear?" Natalia asked her.

Tear closed her eyes and looked away from the rest of the group, "Yes..."

"If Tear is that resolved," Guy said, realizing he had no right to hesitate if even Tear was that determined, "Then we all need to be, as well."

"We'll stop the reverse flow from the Absorption Gate and lower the Outer Lands," Luke said, after taking his eyes off Tear. "Even if it means fighting Master Van!"

"I'll do my best too!" Mieu squeaked, hopping onto Luke's shoulder, as determined as he could sound with his highpitched voice.

Luke laughed, "I'm counting on you, Mieu. Everyone." He turned to face the open doorway.

"We can't put this off anymore," Alex said.

"Yeah," Luke nodded, "Alright, guys. Let's go!"

"Hold on!" Anise said suddenly, running up to Luke and Tear and putting their hands together.

"Anise, what...?" Tear asked the girl, her cheeks heating up as Anise made her and Luke hold hands. Luke just looked extremely confused.

Anise didn't answer, and went on to make Natalia grab Noelle's hand, who was then forced to grab Tear's. It wasn't just Luke who was confused anymore as Anise joined Alex and Guy's hands and went to grab Alex's other hand.

"Luke," she ordered the redhead, "Grab Guy's other hand now!"

"...No thanks." Guy almost laughed at the look on his best friend's face as he said the words.

"Why not?" Anise demanded.

Luke's face turned red and he didn't answer.

"You're not seriously worried about it being gay are you?" Isabell laughed, standing on the sidelines with Jade.

Guy couldn't help but laugh too, "Come on, Luke. Don't be stupid."

Luke glared at him, "Easy for you to say! You were just kissed by a _girl_! And of all the people..."

"I would really like to facepalm right now..." Alex muttered, looking very annoyed by the fact that neither of her hands were free.

"Trying to have a moment, here!" Anise said loudly.

"Fine," Isabell shrugged, walking up between the two groups of people and grabbing both Luke and Guy's hands, joining the chain of people together, "Happy?" she asked Luke, who didn't respond with anything but a glare.

"Anise," Natalia said from the end of the chain, "Why are we doing this?"

"I'll explain in a second," the girl replied, "But first...Colonel! Get over here!"

She held out her free hand to Jade, who merely looked at it for a moment before adjusting his glasses, "I'm afraid not. Our bonds are awkward enough as they are."

"What?" Anise asked, "Come on! Everyone else is doing it!"

Jade didn't budge, and Isabell started speaking, "Forget about him, we don't have a lot of time. And I think Guy's at his limit here." It was true, Guy was starting to shake slightly.

"Fine," Anise pouted, "Anyway, we're doing this to show that we're standing together against Van, so there's no way we can lose! Van won't be able to get through us-"

"Wait, I'm lost," Alex said, interrupting what was probably a well rehearsed speech from Anise, "Are we fighting Van or challenging him to a game of red rover?"

Anise was fed up, "Fine, whatever. You're all impossible!" she dropped Alex's hand and headed toward the door.

"Wait, Anise," Alex called after her, "I'm sorry. What were you going to say?"

Anise turned back to face them and pouted, "Couldn't you guys be cooperative for once?"

"Well," Jade shrugged, "That would be a little out of character, don't you think?"

"I guess so..." Anise said, dropping her pout, "But this is probably the last time we'll all be together like this, I just kind of wanted to make some uplifting speech like Luke always does...But that's pretty much all I had to say anyway, so let's forget about it and just go. We're wasting time, the Outer Lands won't wait for us to fall!"

None of them could think of anything to say to her. They all finally let go of each others' hands and headed through the door of the Gate, Noelle going in the opposite direction, heading back to the Albiore. There was no turning back now.

...

"So that was sudden," Isabell said, smirking at Alex as the two walked a little ahead everyone else, "The kiss, I mean."

Alex blushed again, "I know... But I figured, we'll be up against Van. There's a good chance we may not all make it."

Isabell smiled, "I understand, it makes sense."

"You don't think it was stupid?" Alex asked.

Isabell looked over to where Luke and Guy were talking. Guy looked a little anxious, as everyone else was about the Absorption Gate, but he also looked happy. "Nah, I don't think it was stupid."

Alex nodded slowly, looking a little reassured by Isabell's words.

Once they were in the center of the first room, they all took a quick look around them. The Absorption Gate was a lot darker than the other Sephiroth, from what Isabell had heard about the others. Everything was a dark shade of purple or black, it took a while for her eyes to adjust. Once they had, she took a moment to be amazed at how big the place was; she had never actually been inside a Sephiroth yet.

In the center of the first platform in the middle of the room was a fonstone about the size of two average humans. Inscribed in the fonstone was a score, though it looked quite different from the ones Isabell had usually seen in Daath. This one appeared to be a musical score; she recognized it mostly because she played piano in her spare time in Daath, something she had learned from her mother on Hod and continued to learn even after her death.

But what was most odd about this score was the lack of musical notes. In their place were what appeared to be small, spherical clusters of the second through fifth fonons, though some of the clusters were smaller and flickering.

"My," Natalia said as she looked around the room, "This is the Absorption Gate?"

"The Planet Storm is being sucked in!" Anise noticed, pointing the area behind the score and the platform where the light of the Planet Storm did seem to be flowing downwards, "What's that sparkling stuff around it?"

"Memory particles," Guy told her, "It's beautiful, like falling snow..."

As the others were still checking out their surroundings, Isabell continued to focus on the fonstone in front of them, wondering what the clusters of fonons were for.

In front of the score was a small fonic glyph that was most likely used as a tool to teleport a person from one place to another. After attempting to use it once, Isabell realized that the glyph was not working.

She took another close look at the structure in front of her and noticed a small, golden rod on a stand right beside it. She picked it up so she could inspect it further and noticed four smaller, glass capsules along the rod. Engraved above each capsule were the characters for four types of fonons. Again, they were the second through fifth.

Isabell looked back up at the score, and noticed that there were four of the flickering clusters of fonons, one of each of the types of fonons: Gnome, Sylph, Undine, and Efreet.

So many questions were going through Isabell's head as she inspected the device in her hands.

Were they supposed to somehow collect the missing fonons? How would they do that? Was this some kind of test? Did Van have to do this too?

Without her even noticing, Guy walked up behind her.

"What's that?" he asked, catching her off guard.

She span around to face him, and noticed his eyes were on the device in her hand. He looked interested.

"I don't know," she replied, dropping the device in his hands so he could look at it. As the others in the group approaached the two of them. Isabell quickly explained to everyone her thoughts about the score and the fonons.

"So we need to collect fonons?" Luke asked.

"It's as good a guess as any," Guy said, touching one of the capsules on the golden device. Instantly, the capsule opened, and a tiny golden light appeared in the middle, appearing to try and bring in fonons. After a few moments where it failed to bring in any fonons, the light disappeared and the capsule closed again.

"But first we need to find these fonons," Alex said after a few moments of silence. "How are we going to do that?"

All of them turned their heads toward Jade, hoping for an answer. He merely looked around at them all before shrugging.

"I don't know," he said in a creepily innocent voice, "I'm just as baffled as you are. I was hoping Isabell might be able to tell us, since she was clever enough to figure this out on her own."

"Don't ask me," Isabell replied, ignoring the use of her full first name, "I got us this far, it's someone else's turn."

"Well..." Anise said thoughtfully, "There are four paths leading off in different directions. Maybe that has something to do with it?"

Isabell had been so focused on what was right in front of her, that she hadn't even noticed the different pathways until Anise mentioned them.

"It's worth a try," Tear told her, "Four paths, four different types of fonons. It seems logical that the two would be connected."

"We cannot waste any more time here," Natalia said, "We need to hurry."

"Natalia's right," Luke agreed, "Should we split into groups of two so we can get this done faster?"

"But we only have the one device to take in the fonons," Guy told him.

"True," Jade said, "At any rate, I would rather we stay as a group if it can be helped. If any of us were to run into Van while separated from the rest... Well, I don't think I need to explain what would happen next."

"I don't think any monsters here would exactly be weak, either," Isabell added.

They randomly chose which path to take first and headed in that direction, the pathway leading downwards in a spiral. It took about ten minutes of their time before they reached the end of the path, where a ball of bright red fonons waited for them, just floating in one place.

Once they reached it, Luke reached out to touch the red ball, and quickly withdrew his hand once he made contact with it, "Ow! Dammit, it burned me!"

"Shocking," Alex deadpanned, "Never would have expected that from _Fifth Fonons._"

Luke glared at her as he rubbed his singed fingers. Tear merely sighed and gently took his hand before healing the burns quickly.

"Well then, how are we supposed get it into its capsule?"

"Easy," Guy told Luke as he approached the cluster of fonons, though he was smart enough to stay at a safe distance. He took out the golden rod and opened the capsule on the far end, holding it out to the red ball. Immediately, the fonons dispersed, and then gathered again inside the capsule, the glass casing sliding shut once again once they were all inside. "There," Guy said, turning back to face the others, "That's the Fifth Fonon, now we just have to worry about the other three."

* * *

It took a while, but they had finally managed to gather three of the four fonons. All that was left was the cluster of Fourth Fonons - Undine.

They moved as fast as they could down the final path, and stopped once they reached the end of it. Isabell had expected a ball of blue fonons to lie in wait for them like the others had, but she and the others were sorely disappointed to find that there was nothing there.

"Well that was a colossal waste of time," Anise said, crossing her arms, "_Now_ what do we do?"

Isabell sighed, who knew how much longer the Outer Lands would hold up? They were running out of time, and they had no clue what to do.

"I sense monsters," Mieu squeaked, "Lots and lots of them!"

Out of thin air, the blue orb of fonons they were looking for finally appeared, but instead of one full-sized one, there were plenty of tinier ones. Fonic golems formed around the blue fonons, each wielding a sword. None of their joints were connected, and the blue fonons in their cores seemed to be their power source.

There were enough of them to surround the group, and already, things weren't looking good for them. They were already a little tired from all the walking they had done so far, and they had all agreed earlier that if it was possible, they would avoid any monsters and save as much energy as they could for Van. But it didn't look like they had a choice when it came to fighting these golems. They needed the Undine fonons in their cores.

The golems didn't wait for them to attack, and all raised their swords and moved in. They glided along the ground, having no legs to run with, and in no time at all, Isabell noticed that all their attacks seemed to be linked somehow. It was probably because their cores were all one cluster of fonons at one point.

They needed to finish this as quickly as possible, so Isabell's original plan of seeing how well she could work with the group's fighting styles before facing Van went out the window. She could wait to find a situation where they weren't surrounded to do that. She could finish this easily in a matter of moments, instead of letting the others possibly get hurt. Of course she was mostly worried about Alex, who hadn't completely recovered yet.

As the others were forced into melee fighting by the fact that the golems were so close and allowed no room to get past them, some of them, particularly Natalia, were already having a bit of difficulty.

The left over golem started at Isabell, and she dodged its attack quickly by jumping high into the air. As she was above the golem she drew her sword and focused her mind on the blade of it, drawing the third and fourth fonons into it, forming a thin but deadly sharp sheet of ice.

At the same time, she quickly unwrapped the blue ribbon around the hilt of the sword, then threw the blade as hard as she could at the golem below her, keeping a firm grip on the ribbon.

The blade pierced the golem just above where the blue fonons were, and went straight through it with ease, pinning it to the ground. The second the blade hit the ground, thick icicles erupted all around and through the golem, leaving it immobile. Isabell pulled hard on the ribbon, her sword sailing back into her hand as she was still in the air.

She pointed the sword downward, and thrusted it into the ground as she landed. As it had before, ice erupted all around as the sword hit the ground, creating paths of deadly icicles that led to all the other golems.

She wasn't worried about hitting the others, she had mastered friendly fire a while ago.

The ice formed all around the golems, freezing them solid and preventing them from moving. The others moved away from the golems now, probably afraid of getting hurt.

Isabell wasn't quite finished yet.

"Shatter!" she shouted as she pulled her sword from the ground. In one fluid motion, she sliced the air, ice needles coming from the tip of her sword, both getting rid of the ice formed around her blade, and hitting each frozen golem. "Glacial Blast!"

Upon impact with the needles the thick ice around the golems shattered, the monsters shattering with it.

All that remained were the blue orbs of light, which slowly joined together to create the bigger ball of fonons that they were after. Guy didn't hesitate in using the device to bring in the fonons, as Isabell fell to her knees, holding onto her sword to keep from falling over completely.

Her arte was powerful, but it was also took up quite a bit of energy. It was very risky to use, and so Isabell only ever used it when she was desperate or the situation called for it.

While she was till catching her breath, Isabell reached into a pouch attached to her belt and drew out an orange gel, quickly popping it into her mouth. She shuddered at the taste, she'd never liked oranges, but didn't think much about it when she slowly felt her energy come back to her.

"Are you alright?" Alex asked her as the others approached. When Isabell nodded and stood up, Alex continued, "That was so cool! How did you do that?"

Isabell couldn't help but smile at her sister despite the fact that she was still exhausted, and she quickly explained to her that she had had to focus on bringing both the Third and Fourth fonons into her sword, which was a difficult thing to master. She's trained in doing it for so many years now that she could do it with no problem, but it was indeed impossible for her to do at one point.

As the group reached the first room again and finally were able to use the warp glyph, Isabell continued to explain, "For the most part, everyone, even people who aren't fonists, has an affinity for a particular fonon. It takes a really long time to master it, even longer if you move on to master a second type of fonon that you have only some skill in. That's why Jade's so famous. He's one of the only people on Auldrant with the ability to control all four of the elemental fonons with ease. It's even surprising someone as young as Anise can use both the First and Sixth fonons, especially since they're not the most common fonons. For fonists though, it's a lot easier for them to master the use of their fonons in battle than it is for people like us, who tend to go through life without using fonons at all."

"Wait," Alex said, "How come I never knew I could use a fonon?"

"Van never told you, I guess," Guy shrugged, "Pere told me the basics of it before I was sent to look for Luke. I've been trying to master it since. I think I've finally got the hang of it though, I've just never used it in front of anyone."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Alex asked him.

"I don't know, I guess I just never thought to say anything."

"It doesn't matter anyway," Isabell told her, "An arte that powerful is a double-edged sword. It takes up a massive amount of energy, and it's probably something you would want to avoid using in a one on one battle. When you're in a group with healers you would probably be fine, but if you were on your own and the arte didn't work, you'd be screwed. Especially if you use an arte that requires the extra focus of bringing in two fonons instead of just one like I just did."

"What was the first fonon you had an affinity for?" Alex asked.

"Water."

"And you?" she asked, turning to Guy.

"Fire."

Hopefully Isabell wouldn't ever be around to see his arte then.

"Are you guys all able to do it, then?"

They all looked around at each other, and nodded.

"I guess I'm not really that surprised about you guys being able to do it," Alex said, nodding in the direction of the fonists, "But I didn't know Luke could do it too."

"Tear's been teaching me," Luke said, "Besides, I think it's kind of the same for me as controlling my hyperressonance."

"Oh, that makes sense," Alex turned to Isabell again, "Do you think you could teach me how to do it?"

"You know the risks?" Isabell asked.

"Yeah, but if I could master at least one fonon, it would be nice to have in an emergency."

Isabell thought about it for a moment. There was no way she could teach her how to do it in time for the fight against Van, but it might come in handy for her later down the road. "Before you can bring in a fonon, you need to find out which one responds best to you," Isabell explained as they finally managed to use the fonic glyph in the first room, appearing probably thousands of feet below where they were only a few shot seconds ago.

"How do I figure that out?" Alex asked.

"Well..." Isabell tried to think of the best way to describe it, but before she could say anything else the biggest earthquake she had ever felt hit.

"This is a big one!" Luke shouted over the rumbling as Isabell was suddenly overcome with nausea once she had remembered that they were floating in mid-air. Her eyes widened as she saw the platform they were standing on start to crumble beneath their feet.

"Be careful!" Guy shouted, trying to back away from the falling pieces of the platform, "The floor's-!"

Then the air was full of everyone's screams, and they were falling into the darkness below them.

* * *

Isabell groaned as she got up, everything was sore. It was bad enough that she was still tired from using Glacial Blast earlier.

She looked around her and had to blink a few times for her eyes to readjust to how much darker it was suddenly. Where was she? She remembered explaining about the use of fonons in battle to Alex, and then the ground started to shake and fall apart. She must have fallen; she was lucky to be alive. But she couldn't see anybody else.

"Alex?" she asked, hoping her sister would answer.

"Oh, good, you're awake."

It wasn't Alex, but Jade. And no one else seemed to be with them, either.

"Where are the others?" Isabell asked, panic starting to overcome her. What if they fell so far below that they were injured, or never landed at all? What if Alex was...no, she couldn't think that.

"They aren't here," Jade replied standing up, "They must have landed elsewhere. We have to regroup quickly, none of us would stand a chance against Van separately."

It somehow angered Isabell that he could be so calm about everything. They didn't even know that the others were alive, and he acted like nothing even happened!

"Isabell," Jade said, giving her a look that almost made her think he had read her mind, "The others will be fine. Tear, Anise, and Guy are all reasonably experienced fighters, and the others have all made it this far. Nothing will be accomplished by just standing around. Like I said, we need to regroup as quickly as possible."

So it wasn't that he didn't care about them at all. He was saying that he believed they would survive in his own strange way.

"But I am worried about Alex's injury," Jade said, "I still think she should have stayed behind, but there's no point in me saying that now. If she's lucky, she fell with a healer. Let's just hope she didn't fall far enough for her injury to worsen."

Isabell nodded and stood up as well, calming down a little. She noticed that Jade always called her Isabell rather than Bell like she had asked them all to. But strangely, she found that she didn't mind that much._  
_

He walked away from her, and Isabell watched his retreating figure with a faint blush on her cheeks. She was glad it was dark where they were. _  
_

There was more to the Necromancer than she first thought, and she wanted to learn more about him.

She started to follow him, her mind wandering back to Alex again. No matter what anyone said, there was no way she could not worry about her.

Isabell lucked out and managed to get someone as strong as Jade with her, but what about the others? Some of them were pretty strong, not that the others were weak, but Isabell was still worried about them, particularly Alex. She knew she wouldn't be able to fully focus on any enemies until they had regrouped and they knew everyone was in one piece.

As Jade had said, she hoped Alex had at least landed with a healer.

* * *

_**A/N: What are your thoughts about Isabell's Mystic Arte? And how I explained the use of fonons in the artes I kinda had help from Naruto Shippuden. xD  
**_

_**So yeah, it finally happened. Only took 39 chapters, but they finally kissed. xD And since someone pointed it out, the fact that the relationship between Guy and Alex hasn't changed at all after the kiss is fully intentional. There's a bit too much going on for them in terms of life or death now that really the last thing on a normal person's mind should be a date or something.  
**_


	40. The Absorption Gate: Part 2

_Chapter 40: The Absorption Gate: Part 2_

_'Some day, when we're grown up, let's change this country.'_

Despite the fact that she was the only one there to put his words into action - despite the fact that she had spent most of her life believing that her Luke would never help her or remember their promise after his kidnapping, she took the promise they had made as children very seriously. The words had consumed her very life, even after their speaker had, unbeknownst to her, disappeared from her life for years to come.

_'Change it so that no one has to be poor.'_

She had done all that she could. Natalia was in charge of public works, and she used all the profits made to help those in need. When people lost their jobs for unexplainable reasons, she would create jobs for them. The people of her country, as well as her friends and others close to her, admired her greatly for that. But there was still that nagging thought in the very back of her mind that sometimes told her that maybe she wasn't doing it for the people of her country. Maybe she was doing it simply to fulfill her promise made with Asch so many years ago. Maybe she was doing it just to ease some selfishness that she didn't know she had at the time. Jade had once pointed this out to her, and despite the fact that the others had adamantly protested his words, saying that she was a much better person than that, Natalia could never shove Jade's words from her mind. Maybe the words had some truth to them. Maybe she wouldn't have cared as much about the poor if Asch hadn't made that promise to her.

_'Change it so that war never happens.'_

Perhaps their promise was part of the reason she had been so desperate to stop the war. Even if Asch's words weren't permanently etched into her mind, she would have still crossed the battlefield to stop the fighting. Natalia loved her country after all, with or without Asch, and there was no way she would simply stand by and watch as Mohs manipulated her father into destroying her beloved country and its citizens.

_'Let's work to change our country. For the rest of our lives.' _

She loved her country with all her heart, and she had no problems with devoting her life to making it as great as it could be for its citizens. She wouldn't even let the stubbornness of her father stand in the way of her country's happiness. She had been set on staying behind during the 'Meryl' ordeal to convince him to allow them to lower the lands, even if he ordered her execution. Luckily for her, she was able to convince him without much difficulty.

Perhaps if she had stayed by her father's side the whole time to begin with, he never would have been so swayed by Mohs's words to begin with. She was a fool to think she was needed in Akzeriuth and the frontlines.

_'Together.'_

Sometimes she wondered if Asch really did still want to keep that promise. He had promised that they'd work together, but every time they met up, they went there separate ways before Natalia would even have the chance to speak to him. She knew he was busy, but part of her worried if she had destroyed any chance of them being happy together.

Part of that worry had to do with Luke. She was probably the person who was closest to Luke when they were growing up, yet she hadn't even figured out that he was literally an entirely different person when he returned from the kidnapping. That must have hurt Asch. She really couldn't blame him for not wanting to be around their group for long. It must be painful for him to be around his replica, who stole everything from him, even if that wasn't Luke's intention.

"Natalia? Are you alright?"

She snapped her head in Guy's direction, having not realized she had been daydreaming.

"Yes. I'm fine. It's the others we _should_ be worrying about."

Guy nodded slowly and moved his gaze back in front of him.

It had been at least three hours since the earthquake that had separated everyone, and Natalia had ended up falling with Guy. The time had been spent in an almost awkward silence as they tried to find the others. It wasn't that they had trouble getting along, it was more along the lines that they were too busy wondering what became of the others to really have a light-hearted conversation.

The Absorption Gate was much larger than any of the other Sephiroth they had been to so far, so of course it would happen to be the one in which they were all separated. When they were separated from Guy and Alex on Mt. Roneal was one thing, since they had known those two were together and where they might have been, but here they didn't know if the rest of them were in one group, or if they were in more smaller groups. Moreover, they had absolutely no idea where they could have ended up, so Guy and Natalia had decided to follow the path that led downwards, hopefully toward the passage ring. They could only hope that the others were heading in the same direction, and that they would meet there. Their only worry was Van, and if he got to the others before they had the chance to meet up.

"Do you think it's safe to continue downward?" Natalia asked as they both hurried down the path they had chosen to follow. She was having doubts about whether they were going in the right direction. What if they never met up with the others? Or what if they ran into Van instead?

"I can't make any guarantees," Guy sighed, "But we don't have much choice."

Natalia lowered her gaze to the ground as they continued walking, "True... I hope we can rejoin everyone soon."

"Are you worried?"

Natalia thought about his question for a moment. It was true she had her doubts, but they didn't change the reason why she came to the Absorption Gate with everyone. She had to defeat Van to save her country - or rather, Auldrant. If she showed any sign of doubt, any sign of weakness, Van would surely defeat her without much trouble.

"No," she finally replied, looking up at Guy, "I have you at my side, and I've seen everyone's strengths during our travels together."

Guy smiled, "Yeah. And we've gotten Asch's seal of approval, too."

Natalia tilted her head, "Asch...?"

"Come on, you, of all people, know how he is. If he didn't think we could do this, he'd be here taking care of Van himself."

Natalia's mind quickly flashed to the wound on Asch's stomach Van had given him in Ortion Cavern the last time she saw him. Was he alright? Was that the real reason he wasn't there?

"The fact that he hasn't shown himself means he trusts us," Guy concluded.

Natalia nodded her head. "I'll have to show him that his trust is not misplaced."

"And the first step to doing that is to rejoin everyone else," Guy said matter-of-factly.

"You really are very nice," Natalia blurted out. At the beginning of their journey, Natalia really hadn't thought of Guy as much more than a servant with an odd phobia that happened to be close to Luke and Alex. But as the months passed, she began to understand why everyone seemed so drawn to him. She could certainly understand what Alex saw in him now...but for reasons even she wasn't sure of, she still found it difficult to accept the two of them together. Perhaps she was bitter? The man Natalia loved was never around, and was always in a hurry to leave their presence whenever they did meet up. Meanwhile Alex and Guy were hardly seen without the other.

Guy laughed nervously at her comment, scratching the back of his head, "Thanks..."

"May I say something?"

"What's wrong?"

"You may already be aware of this from my behaviour alone, but I never exactly...approved of your relationship with Alex."

Guy turned to look at her again, curiosity on his face, "We have noticed you've been acting weird around us lately..."

"I realize it is not my place to decide if you two become a couple, but for reasons even I do not know, I'm finding it difficult to accept the two of you together." She paused, waiting for him to say something, when he remained quiet, she continued, "It was easier for me to disapprove of your relationship in the beginning, when we all believed that Alex was part of the royal family, and you were just a servant. It remained easy even when you informed us that you were from Hod. It would not do if someone from the royal family of Kimlasca developed such a relationship with a noble from Malkuth, especially during these times."

Natalia noticed that Guy was looking at her with an expression that seemed to ask why she was even telling him this, but it was relieving to finally tell someone what was on her mind, even it hadn't been preoccupying her mind that much lately, so she continued. "But ever since the peace treaty, I've been confused. Even now, I am not sure I approve of your relationship, but I am aware of the fact that I can do nothing about it."

"You can't just be happy for us?" It wasn't a scathing remark - in fact, his voice was devoid of any anger or bitterness. It was only a mere question, and yet Natalia found herself flinching slightly, and looking away from him in shame.

"I want to be. You're both my friends, you are both very important to me, and I want to be happy for you, but I can't."

"And you don't know why?"

Again, his voice was as calm and kind as always, but Natalia could not bring herself to look him in the eye. Things were quiet between them as they walked for a few moments before...

"Could it have something to do with Asch?"

Natalia felt her cheeks heat up, expecting that Guy had come to the same conclusion she had, "A-Asch?"

"Yeah. You love him, right?"

"Wh-what? I-"

She was interrupted by Guy's laughter, "Come on, Natalia, it's pretty obvious that you do. We all know it. You two have that promise you made when you were kids, right?"

"Y-yes..." She was avoiding Guy's eyes for an entirely different reason now, it was embarrassing for a princess to be stuttering like she was.

"Well...Maybe on some level you're upset that you don't see Asch a lot?" Guy suggested.

"Yes...Perhaps you're right. I thought the same thing."

"See? It's not a big deal or anything. You just have your own problems. We all do. Just focus on yourself for a while and don't worry about what we're doing."

Natalia smiled, "Thank you, Guy, for being so kind. Your friendship means a lot to me, even if I have not been the best at showing how grateful I am for it. I'm not sure what I would do with myself if anything were to happen to _any _of you. You've all become important to me."

Guy smiled at her, "Then we'll have to regroup, won't we? We won't know that everyone's alright until we do."

Natalia nodded at him, and they picked up the pace a little more. They were nearly knocked over as another earthquake began, and were forced to wait a few moments for it to subside, moving more quickly than they had before. They were clearly running out of time, the constant earthquakes were proof enough of that.

Once the earthquake had fully subsided, they continued downward immediately, moving faster than before. From the corner of her eye, Natalia noticed the look of worry and concern on Guy's face. She wondered how he was able to keep his emotions all bottled up inside, she couldn't remember any time she had seen him snap in all the years she'd known him. And Yulia knows they'd all been under enough pressure to snap. She'd done her fair share of crying, that was for certain.

"Guy," when he turned his head to face her again, she continued, possibly more to stop herself from worrying than anything else. She remembered Alex's injury on Mt. Roneal, and though she was confident in her ability to heal, "The others will be fine. I'm certain of it."

He nodded and went to respond, but before he could, he was cut off by the sound of very heavy footsteps.

Natalia's immediate response was to grab her bow as Guy drew his sword, and both of them scanned the room they were in for the source of the noise. It was no easy task, seeing as the room they were in was huge and dark, with pillars and ramps in every direction. If it weren't for the memory particles and bright, glowing doorways giving them just enough light to know where they were going, they would have been completely lost or probably would have fallen into the core very early on.

As their eyes continued to search for whatever was approaching them, Natalia took note of her surroundings. Her archery would be practically useless in that room, especially when she didn't even know where the enemies were. Not that it had been of much use against any of the monsters in the Sephiroth at any rate, most of them had been some sort of machine. She stood back and prepared to cast supporting artes for Guy, seeing as he was really the only one capable of doing any damage against the monsters whenever they decided to show up.

Without any warning, a golem, larger and much more monstrous than the ones they had fought before being separated from the others, jumped down from the platform above the two of them, landing right behind Guy. The shock-wave from the impact the golem made with the ground made Guy stumble, but he managed to right himself just in time to jump out of the way as the golem brought its fist down on the ground with enough force to smash a gaping hole in the glass.

Natalia stared, wide-eyed, at the damage the golem had caused as it swung what appeared to be a sword at Guy, who attempted to hold it back with his own blade. Snapping out of it, Natalia quickly started to cast a barrier around Guy.

As if the constant earthquakes were siding with the golem, Natalia was forced to focus on other things as the ground began to shake once more. She lost her balance, and yelped as she fell backwards.

Right off the end of the platform they were on.

She was lucky enough to grab on to the end of the platform, but in the process she had dropped her bow. The fact that she never heard it make contact with anything told her that she was not, under any circumstances, going to let go. She could get a new bow later, healing artes were probably all she was going to use in the fight against Van anyway.

After the earthquake finally subsided, Natalia pulled herself back up onto the platform, hoping Guy didn't get hurt in her absence. She didn't have a clue about what was going on above her.

She was prepared to start casting immediately as she stood up, but she was not expecting what she saw as she scanned the room for Guy's whereabouts.

Her eyes widened in horror and blood drained from her face as she realized why this Sephiroth was so much more dangerous than the others. The monsters they'd fought before were more like household pets compared to the ones here. They stood no match against even one of these golems with just two of them.

Natalia certainly stood no chance against this thing alone and without a bow. There was no way she would be able to charge up a healing arte to stop the blood pouring from Guy's stomach as the golem brutally pulled out his sword and turned toward her, she wouldn't have time.

How were they going to get out of this alive?

...

If it weren't for Anise's quick thinking, they might have been dead. During the fall, she'd had enough time to grab Tokunaga and enlarge him, making him gab both herself and Alex to cushion their landing. The shock of what had just happened, as well as the force of the impact, had left them both breathless and unwilling to move for about a half hour, however.

"Thanks, Anise," Alex sighed as she stood up, Anise reluctantly following suit, "I don't want to know what would have happened if you didn't have Tokunaga."

Anise placed Tokunaga on his usual spot on her back before nodding. "Do you think the others are alright?"

Alex hesitated, "I don't know. I hope so. If we want a chance of beating Van then we'll have to find them."

She kept talking like that, Anise noticed. She kept reminding her that they might not be able to beat Van. It kind of annoyed her. Why couldn't she just talk like they had a chance? They were going to win. They were going to all make it out of there alive. If they all had that mindset, then they could stand a better chance.

"Why do you keep saying that?"

"Saying what?"

"You keep saying things like, 'If we beat Van', or 'If we all make it out alive'. It's kinda depressing."

Alex shrugged, "I'm just being realistic."

"No, you're being _pessimistic_. Seriously, what kind of an attitude is that for something like this?"

From the corner of her eye, Anise saw the corner of Alex's mouth twitch into a small smile for a second before returning to the small frown she had been wearing since they were separated from the others.

Alex shrugged, "I...suppose you could put it that way. And what do you want me to say?"

"First," Anise pointed at the older girl, who now wore a bemused smirk on her face, "I want you to stop sounding like the Colonel with the way you're talking," Alex blinked as if surprised, before the smirk on her face turned into a genuine smile as she let out a laugh.

"Sorry. I didn't even notice I was speaking that way."

"Second," Anise continued as if Alex hadn't spoken, "Start saying 'when' instead of 'if'! You need to have a better attitude or of course you're going to lose! This is the Commandant we're talking about! You can't doubt yourself now! We've made it this far, haven't we? We have to beat him. Look, everyone here has a reason they're still fighting at this point, why do you want to defeat Van?"

Alex raised an eyebrow at her, "You mean _other_ than not wanting the Outer Lands to fall, causing everyone's deaths?"

"...Yeah. Other than that."

Alex sighed, "Well...that's the thing: I don't really know. Other than doing what I think is morally right, I really have no reason for going against Van at this point. I guess I really didn't have anywhere else to go, since Baticul obviously isn't an option for me, so I stayed with you guys. Other than moving to Grand Chokmah with Guy, I don't even have any plans for my future. I'm just kind of living in the now. I kind of like it that way. I will say that over the past few months I have grown to dislike the Score, but I definitely don't agree with what Van's doing. What about you?"

"Ion asked me," Anise replied, as if it was the most simple thing in the world.

"That's it?" Alex asked, "That's the _only_ reason you're here?"

Anise shook her head, "No... I'm fighting for Mama and Papa too. I can't let the Commandant get away with what he's trying to do."

They were distracted for a few moments by a sudden earthquake.

"We should hurry," Alex said after it had subsided, "We probably don't have much time left."

Anise didn't argue as they both picked up their pace.

"You know," Anise started, she didn't really like being quiet as they moved, it just made the situation seem a lot more dangerous when they were quiet, "I never really thought I would have friends like you guys when I was growing up in Daath."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, "You don't have any friends back home?"

"N-no, I do..." Anise lied, thinking about all the other Fon Master Guardians she had been trained with and how they would bully her for her size, age, and lack of strength or talent back then. Back then the only person other than her parents who didn't refuse to speak to her was Dist the Reaper, and she had him to thank for her ability to use Tokunaga in battle. "I just meant that I never would have thought I'd really get along with you guys. I mean, you're all cool and everything now, but my impression of all of you has changed a lot since we first met. Like Natalia..."

Alex laughed, "Yeah. She used to be kind of annoying, huh?"

"Yeah, but I think she matured a lot. Considering I actually like her now. All we used to do was argue!"

"Believe me, I know. I grew up with her. And when Luke went missing and Guy went to look for him, I was left with her constantly talking about how worried she was for Luke. Of course that was back when she thought they were engaged, but..."

"You think she started maturing around when we found out Luke was Asch's replica?"

"That might have something to do with it, but Akzeriuth was kind of a turning point for all of us. Look at how far Luke's come since then."

Anise nodded, "Yeah, he really surprised me."

"I think he surprised all of us, actually," Alex laughed, "He's really grown into someone who could be admired. He still has some issues, but who doesn't?"

Anise nodded again, "But you understand what I mean, right? That all of us are so different that we really shouldn't go together so well?

"Oh, yeah. Sometimes I like to think of us as the band of misfits that nobody else wanted anything to do with. And somehow we all just...fit."

Anise laughed, "I never thought of it _that_ way, but yeah." They continued on in silence for a few moments. "I think I'm really going to miss you guys when all this is over."

Alex smiled, "Be thankful that you'll at least be far away from Jade. Guy and I will always be around for him to annoy," she turned to the smaller girl, "Okay, _when _I go to Grand Chokmah, I'll make time somehow to go and visit you and Ion in Daath. I'll bring Guy along if he can come too."

Anise grinned back, "Really?"

Alex suddenly stopped in her tracks, the smile on her face disappearing in an instant. She looked worried about something.

"Anise?..."

Anise had stopped as well, worried that she was about to hear some bad news, "Yeah?"

"D-did you just..." Alex looked as if she was trying to find the right words, "Did you just feel something weird?"

"No," Anise looked around them, wondering if Alex had just possibly felt the presence of a monster. When she found nothing, she turned back to the other girl, "What do you mean?"

"I just felt a sudden chill down my spine... It was probably nothing, but,"Alex muttered, she looked like she was trying to convince herself that she was imagining things. She shook her head, probably in an attempt to clear her thoughts, "We need to regroup. Fast. I have a bad feeling."

The older girl picked up her pace even more, a look of panic on her face, and Anise almost had to jog to keep up with her, silently cursing her short stature all the while. She wasn't about to complain now though, the others could be in trouble, and the two girls couldn't do a thing about it until they regrouped.


	41. The Absorption Gate: Part 3

_The Absorption Gate: Part 3  
_

_"The time must be drawing near..."_

_Luke wasn't sure what Asch meant by that, but he knew his original wouldn't give him an answer if he asked, "Who cares?! Are you okay? Master Van wounded you..." _

_"I don't need _you _worrying about me!" Asch spat. He looked fine now, but Luke knew that it was just because Asch was bad at showing any emotion other than anger. Luke saw Van slash Asch's side himself, and as far as the replica knew, Asch had no one to heal him after they went their separate ways. Natalia had attempted to heal him, but Asch had been too stubborn to let her, there was no way Asch could be fully healed yet._

_"What?!" Asch demanded when he saw the way Luke was looking at him, "If you've got something to say, say it!"_

_"...Thanks," Luke said, and without even thinking, he walked closer to Asch, "Even though you hate me, you still keep helping us with everything."_

_Asch's face contorted into anger as he grabbed Luke's collar. Luke didn't know how he hadn't seen that coming."Don't get me wrong! I'm just using you! It's not for your sake!"_

_Luke had expected him to say something like that, but he had a feeling Asch was just covering up for something. He still had no doubt in his mind that Asch hated him, though._

_Asch threw Luke to the side. If it weren't for the soft, cold snow cushioning his fall, it may have hurt. "If you ever say something like that again, I'll kill you!" Asch told him before turning and starting to walk away._

_"Asch!" Luke called after his retreating figure as he hurriedly stood up, "Come with us to stop Master Van! Let's stop him together."_

_"...No," Asch replied without looking back at him. It was surprising that he had even stopped to hear him out._

_"Why?!"_

_It was then that Luke noticed Asch's stomach was bleeding. If simply grabbing Luke by the collar and throwing him aside reopened his wound, then there was no way he would be able to go to the Absorption Gate._

_"Asch..."_

_Asch's hand went to his side. "Damn it! If I wasn't in this shape, I'd have headed for the Absorption Gate ages ago!"_

_For a few moments, neither of them said anything._

_"If you don't take Van out," Asch told him, "Then I'll kill him, even if I have to go down with him."_

_"I swear I'll stop him," Luke said._

_"Not 'stop'! Kill!"_

_"...Right."_

"Luke? Luke!"

"Ungh..." Luke groaned as he sat up, eyes still closed, his hand holding his thobbing head. "What happened?"

"Oh, good, you're alright."

"Tear?" Luke opened his eyes to see Tear kneeling next to him with a relieved look on her face, Mieu on her lap. He dazedly looked around the area, remembering that they were in the Absorption Gate, "What happened?"

"There was an earthquake and the floor collapsed," she told him, "We were separated from the others."

"What?!" he quickly shot to his feet, startling Tear and Mieu. His eyes shot around him, noticing that she was right, no one else was with them, "We have to find them!" He took notice of a path leading away from the platform they had landed on, and immediately started off in that direction.

"Luke, wait!" Tear called after him, standing up herself, Mieu floating along beside her head. He stopped and waited for Tear to reach him, and was shocked when she reached her hand out to grab his arm, "You're bleeding. Hang on, I'll heal you."

It was just a small cut on his forearm, by no means life-threatening, but she was right. He hurriedly pulled his arm out of her grasp, not fully understanding why his face was suddenly heating up, "N-nevermind me. I hope the others are alright."

Tear looked confusedly at him for a moment, but didn't press the matter, "I'm sure they're all fine," she told him, "The one I'd be most worried about is safe."

"Hey!" Luke protested, irritated that after all they'd been through she still didn't trust him to protect himself. To his surprise, Tear only laughed in response as she grabbed his arm once more and healed him, saying that they needed to be as prepared as possible for Van later on. Luke saw her face fall a little when she mentioned Van.

"Tear..."

"We should move on; we need to find the others as soon as possible."

Luke didn't argue, and followed her down the path he had spotted earlier, Mieu right behind him. He knew Tear didn't want to fight her brother; she probably didn't want to talk about it either.

It was weird, thinking that he used to idolize Master Van and worship the ground he walked on. Even now, he still called him 'Master'.

They walked in complete silence for what felt like hours. Luke could tell Tear was nervous about their upcoming encounter with Van, and talking about it certainly wouldn't help her. If he could help it, he at least didn't want her to make the final blow if they did succeed in defeating Van. She was already dealing with the cost of lowering the lands. He wished he could take the burden of the miasma off of her and take it himself if he could. If anyone deserved to live on after everything they'd done, it was her.

It was unfair, that she had been taking the wost of every situation. She had to fight her brother, she had to take on a life-threatening illness to lower the lands. Why did she have to take all the punishments while the rest of them were perfectly fine? It wasn't fair to her. And yet she still did everything she did without any complaints.

She was stronger than any of them could ever be, and while he wished she didn't have to do all those things, he admired her for it.

He was the one who destroyed Akzeriuth, he was the one who would willingly give up his life to fix the problem he started, why was Tear doing that instead?

"Things are...much different than they were back then," Tear suddenly said.

It took Luke a few moments to think about what she could have been talking about, but he came up with nothing, "Back then?"

"In Tataroo Valley," Tear explained, "When I took you from your manor in Baticul."

"Oh, yeah. It was just us back then, too." Luke said, thinking back to that time, and how he had been such a horrible excuse for a person. He remembered with a pang in his heart that he had made her give up a pendant back then too, just to get a ride in a carriage. What if it was important? Could he get it back for her somehow? Maybe if he found the coachman...

"To be honest," Tear continued, snapping Luke out of his thoughts. He made a mental note to keep an eye out for that coachman if he was ever traveling around Auldrant again after the lands were lowered, "I couldn't trust you on the battlefield at all."

"W-well, excuse me," Luke replied, realizing he was being insulted.

"But now I feel differently," Tear went on, "You've grown."

Luke scratched his nose nervously, "Th-thanks...but I still have a long way to go."

"What?"

"None of that growth will matter if I don't stop Master Van and his replica scheme."

"Yes...You're right," she replied slowly, her eyes now on the ground.

"Tear..."

"In a way, I think it's my fault you've been involved with all this."

"Not exactly," Luke told her, "I still would have been sent to Akzeriuth anyway, I'm just glad you were there the whole time, and everyone else too. I don't think I would have been able to change the way I wanted to without you all there watching me."

"Yes. You have changed a lot since then. I can trust you now."

Luke laughed, "I don't even know how any of you put up with me, I was such a spoiled brat."

Tear smiled slightly, "I would be lying if I tried to protest."

Luke couldn't help but smile too, "Tear...Thanks."

"For what?"

"For everything. Just...thanks."

* * *

"Took you long enough," Isabell said as the others came into view.

"We were getting worried," Anise added from her seat next to Alex. Luke immediately noticed that even though he and Tear had arrived, they all still wore worry on their faces.

"Sorry," Luke surveyed the group, feeling that there was something off, "Where are Guy and Natalia?"

Alex shook her head, she was nervously playing with her hands and not looking at anybody, "Don't know, they haven't shown up yet."

Luke nodded, and went to sit down beside Alex with Tear following him. No one spoke as they waited for the two of them to show up. Before they knew it, an hour had passed, and there was still no sign of either Guy or Natalia. Needless to say, they were all getting worried.

"Mieuuu... I hope they're alright..."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Jade said, adjusting his glasses, "However...if they take much longer, the lands will fall and Van will get what he wants."

"You think we should go on without them?" Luke asked, shocked, "But what if they're hurt? We can't just abandon them!"

"I never suggested we abandon them," Jade said simply, "But if we were to split up to go look for them, there would be no possible way to defeat Van. Our only chance to save the Outer Lands and find the two of them is to confront Commandant Grants, and then try to find them after the lands are safe."

"But we could be too late by that time!" Alex argued.

"They might not even be in trouble to begin with," Isabell told her, "They could just be taking longer. I'm sure they're fine, they'll probably join us later."

"We don't have much choice, do we?" Tear asked.

Anise shook her head solemnly, "It doesn't look like it."

Luke stared hard at the ground for a few moments, everyone seemed to be waiting for him to make the decision. He didn't want to leave Guy and Natalia alone when they could be in trouble, but they couldn't just let Van get away with his plans, "...How are they going to know we went on ahead?"

"There aren't any monsters here," Isabell shrugged, "We could leave Mieu to tell them?"

Luke nodded slowly, not wanting to talk. He felt like he was abandoning his best friends in their time of need.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Alex said quietly, voicing Luke's thoughts. Her eyes were on the ground, and she was still nervously playing with her hands.

"They'll be fine," Isabell assured her, putting an arm around her shoulders and leading her over to the fonic glyph that would take them to Van.

"We don't have much time," Jade told the others, gesturing that they should follow Isabell's lead. Tear, Anise, and Jade followed quickly, while Luke lingered behind with Mieu, looking back at the path that had brought them there.

"I'll make sure to tell Guy and Natalia that you went on ahead, Master," Mieu squeaked, and Luke noticed that he didn't appear to have as much energy as he usually did. Maybe he was feeling the same way as him when it came to going ahead without the other two.

"Luke," Tear called, bringing Luke's attention back to the fonic glyph. She was looking at him worriedly, "We need to go."

Luke nodded and followed her onto the glyph. As they were both transported away, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

...

Tear's heart was pounding as the group approached Van. He had his back to them, and for some unknown reason was playing an organ. At the very least, the sound of the organ did add a suspenseful effect.

She still didn't want to fight him. She still wished she could find a way to change his mind. But she still knew there was no point in trying anymore. He wouldn't be convinced.

"Why are you here?" Van asked without turning to face them. He was obviously referring to Luke, "It was Asch - the original - who was meant to come to build a new order together with me." Van slowly stood up, one hand remaining on the organ in front of him while he finally turned his head to face them, "Don't get in my way, replica!"

"Then why did you make me?" Luke demanded, "Who am I? Why was I born?"

"Can you not live unless you were born for some purpose?" Van asked him, raising an eyebrow slightly. When Luke didn't respond, Van continued to speak, "Well then, you poor, pitiful, replica. You were born as a throwaway pawn, a substitute to overthrow Yulia's Score. That is all."

"Master..." it was easy to hear the pain in Luke's voice, "Is that really all I am? My existence caused the Score to go off track, didn't it?"

"An insignificant deviation such as yourself is as nothing to the Score," Van replied.

Tear hated it when Van spoke this way to Luke. He was having a hard enough time trying to find his sense of worth and get over the idea of possibly ending his own life to right the Score, the last thing he needed was for Van to be calling him insignificant when he was anything but insignificant to her and the people he traveled with.

"The Score is a drug," Van continued, turning his attention back to the organ, "'If you walk to the east, you shall discover great riches.' If that reading came true, then you would want to believe the next one as well. Over the course of two thousand years, Yulia has caused mankind to become addicted to the Score." He slammed both hands down on the organ's keys, nothing but hate and bitterness on his face, "A powerful medicine is needed to remedy two thousand years of distortion."

"And your replica world is that medicine?" Van asked him, "You have quite the imagination."

A slight smile tugged on Van's lips, "Heh... Imagination... Yes, perhaps we can call it that."

"Van," Isabell said calmly, "This world _is_ twisted. We all know that. We both lost our homes and families because of the Score, but... What you're trying to do here, it's too much. There has to be some _better_ way to rid the world of the Score. Why are you so set on killing everyone and making replicas? Why couldn't you have tried to find some other way?"

"Hod would never be reborn with any other plan," Van replied.

Isabell nodded, "Yes, but it wouldn't be our home even if it was reborn. Our families, and Mary," Van's expression turned to sadness for a mere second at the mention of Guy's deceased sister, "They would still be gone. No amount of replicas would change that."

"Isabell... So you would go against me too after all we've been through? After all the Score has done to destroy our lives as well as countless others?" When Isabell didn't respond, he turned to face them all fully, "Very well. I won't hold back." He took a few steps toward them before stopping, and for the first time, he looked around the group, "Did Gailardia not come with you? Has he finally come to his senses?"

"We were separated on the way here," Alex replied bitterly, not looking at him, "Guy still thinks you're going too far with this."

Van nodded, "I see...That explains the absence of the Kimlascan princess as well. Despite the reasoning for his absence, I'm at least thankful I won't have to fight him-"

"What about Tear?" Anise demanded, "She's your sister!"

"You're making her suffer too," Alex added.

"Are you really going to fight her?" Anise demanded, all this sudden attention on Tear was making her feel uncomfortable, "Don't you care at all that you're causing her more pain than she's already been in?"

"Mystearica," Van sighed, closing his eyes, "It is indeed unfortunate. If only you'd stayed in Yulia City... I could have at least spared you."

Despite that fact that she now had to battle her own brother to the death, she was happy she didn't stay in Yulia City. Whether or not she suffered, saving Auldrant from her brother's crazy plan was the right thing to do. And the group of friends she had met along the way, they had more or less become her family as well; she would never have been able to make it through all the passage rings with their unwavering support. Even if she would have never met them, she would have been horrified and repulsed by her brother had he destroyed and replicated the Outer Lands without anyone to stop it.

"You're trying to make a world of replicas, aren't you? So just kill me and make a replica!"

Van opened his eyes and turned to face her, "...You insist on fighting me?"

"Yes," Tear didn't hesitate to answer, pulling out a throwing knife with one hand and gripping her bladed staff with the other while getting into a battle stance. The amount of butterflies in her stomach were almost unbearable, but she had to do this. She tried to steel the resolve she had when she first went to the manor in Baticul all those months ago, but it was harder now that she knew the full story about Hod, and Van being a testing subject at the age of eleven. She still couldn't let him do this, no matter how hard it would be to fight him, "That was the reason I originally came to the Outer Lands."

"Master," Luke said, following Tear's lead and drawing his sword, and Tear heard the tell-tale sounds of the others readying their weapons behind the two of them, "No...Van! Even if you refuse to acknowledge me...I...I am me."

Luke was glaring at Van by now, and Tear wondered where his sudden confidence came from. It was almost like he was back to how confident he was before he knew he was a replica, only it was a bit different. He was no longer arrogant.

"Meaningless babble," Van told him as he glared back, slowly drawing his own sword. He swung his sword down by his side, "Die!"

Immediately, everything went haywire. Even as they were fighting and mostly focused on the task at hand, they were all still trying to get though to Van. Tear knew it was useless as Isabell once again asked if there was any other way, she knew it was useless as Alex and Anise attempted to tell him what he was trying to do was crazy, she knew even Jade, whose books Tear knew Van had read and whom he had respected, would have no chance of getting through to him.

Van was set on his plan, and there was absolutely nothing any of them could say to stop him. That much was obvious if he was willing to strike down his own sister, who, despite all accusations the other had thrown at him, he did love and care for.

Tear's beloved older brother was already far gone. There was no way to bring back the kind, loving man who used to sing her Yulia's fonic hymns when she couldn't sleep. The man who'd just easily sent Luke flying to the ground without even a second thought was no longer the man Tear had admired.

She'd already known she'd lost him, but seeing him in this light was painful for her, as if the miasma hadn't been causing her enough pain already.

As the only healer left of the group, Tear's job was to stay back and watch the other members of the group carefully for if they were injured. Her eyes were on Isabell as she clashed blades repeatedly with Van until she, too, was knocked sideways by Van, narrowly missing a hyperressonance Van shot from the tip of his sword. She didn't look injured, so Tear continued to keep her eyes on whoever it was that was clashing with Van, right now that was both Alex and Luke, and Van seemed to be fighting them off with ease. She wanted to keep her eyes on Van, in case he tried anything on the casters, she still had her knives ready, and could at least throw him off course long enough for the the sword users to intervene.

"Limited!" Anise cried, at the same time Jade shouted out "Turbulence!"

Van easily sidestepped both attacks, even having enough time to slash at Alex's side. If it weren't for the chain-mail she had on underneath her clothes, the attack could have been fatal, but it merely winded her and Van sent her on her side like he had with Luke a few moments earlier. Now it was only Luke holding him off as Isabell went to make sure Alex was alright.

They clashed blades a few times, until Van succeeded in disarming Luke, sending his sword flying into the air and landing ten feet away. There was no way for Luke to get to his sword in time to deflect the blow Van was about to give, and the others were too far away to run in and intervene on time.

_"Razing Phoenix!" _

The sudden shout startled all of them, most of all Van as he was blasted into the air in a vortex of flames creating the image of a phoenix.

"Guy!" Luke shouted as the blonde appeared when the flames vanished, Van on the ground before him. Luke made a lunge to grab his sword, "You're alright!"

"You could say that," Guy replied, and it was then that Tear noticed the blood all down his front, and the fact that he was breathing heavily. He didn't look like he could fight for very long. She quickly charged up a first aid for him.

Natalia ran in behind Guy with Mieu in her arms, keeping her distance from Van. Tear noticed immediately that she didn't have her bow.

"What happened to you?" Alex shouted from the other side of the platform, all the battling had stopped, and Van still hadn't gotten to his feet.

Jade shook his head as Van stood up and got back into stance, "Now's not the time, explain later!"

Tear couldn't agree more as Guy got away from Van as quickly as he could. He looked too exhausted to do much fighting even after Tear healed him. Luke helped him get away by holding Van off, and was shortly joined by Alex. Isabell remained frozen at the sidelines, noticed by Jade.

"Isabell!" he shouted, snapping her out of her thoughts. Anise took notice of the older woman's state as well and moved to the frontlines instead of casting.

Tear heard Van laugh, "In the end, you were never able to get over that phobia of yours, were you?"

What phobia? Tear wondered as she watched Isabell try and force herself out of her apparent shock. Van managed to get himself away from Alex, Luke, and Anise, and charged right at Isabell in her moment of weakness. Sensing that she wouldn't be able to protect herself, Tear threw one of her knives into Van's course without even thinking.

Van saw it coming and veered off course of the knife, but right into a powerful Stalagmite from Jade, the sharp rocks crashing into his sides. That seemed to be enough to snap Isabell out of it, because once the rocks were gone, she was back to herself, clashing blades with Van with more fury than ever before.

The battle went on much longer than any other they'd had, and after quite a few incidents which ended in Tear desperately healing her party members, and Natalia casting barrier on everyone to give them a little more defense, everyone was exhausted and desperate for the battle to end. It had taken this long just to get Van tired, and it was eight to one!

Anise charged impatiently at Van, shouting "Final Fury!" as she swung Tokunaga's arms at him with great force several times. Van dodged most of the blows though, and responded with slashing the doll's right arm off. This threw Tokunaga off balance, and Van took the opportunity to shoot a hyperressonance out of his sword again, hitting Tokunaga square in the chest, going right through the cloth and stuffing and creating a massive hole in the doll, and sending Anise skidding backwards, falling off the doll and rolling to the floor. Tokunaga shrunk in size and after Tear healed her, Anise went back to casting, still shaken by what had just occurred.

The battle continued on for a few moments, and Tear had finally had enough of Van near killing her friends. She summoned all the fonons she could into her body. "Begin!" she shouted, and all attention was on her. Van was watching her with interest at this point, possibly thinking she would be able to kill him.

_"O wind undefiled, embrace those who would be our enemies."_ White light surrounded the entire platform, it was almost as if they were all walking on air. _ "Innocent Shine!"_ The light formed a giant pillar, like a thousand Limiteds, and crashed down upon Van and creating a deafening sound like a thunderclap upon the impact. Tear was amazed it didn't hurt any of her group members. _  
_

It had caused Van a lot of damage, and he'd had to thrust his sword into the ground to keep his balance after all the pressure of that light had crashed down on him.

"I never thought I'd be defeated by such a failure," Van said, more to himself than anyone else. Tear knew he was talking about Luke, despite the fact that Tear had been responsible for the final blow. His legs shook violently under his own weight. He couldn't hold onto the sword for very long, though, and he stumbled backwards, closer to the edge of the platform. No one said a word as Van went into a fit of maniacal laughter. "Oh, how utterly ironic," Van laughed, his eyes on Luke as he fell backwards off the platform and into the core below, leaving his sword planted firmly in the ground before where he stood moments ago.

Tear wasn't really sure of what happened around her after that, her eyes were fixed on where Van had fallen, her mind completely shutting out what the others were doing. She was almost sure that they had stayed quiet for a few minutes though, wrapping their minds around what had just occurred. They had one. It was all over...almost.

Tear was momentarily snapped out of her reservoir by the sound of metal against the ground when Alex dropped her sword as she headed over to Guy, who was now looking even worse than before. It was as if the adrenaline of battle was wearing off as he knelt on the ground, breathing hard, and holding onto his sword for support.

"What happened to you?" Alex demanded as she knelt next to him, Natalia approaching them.

"It's no big deal," Guy told her, attempting one of his boyish grins.

Alex wasn't buying it, "No big- Guy, you're _covered_ in blood! And I _know_ the monsters in this place don't bleed!"

"Natalia healed me."

"And it hasn't been enough so far," the princess in question told him, preparing another healing arte. "I don't have enough energy to use many more healing artes, this will be all I can do for you for the moment. _Cure._"

Guy sighed in relief as the blue light radiated around him. He still looked exhausted, but some of the color had returned to his face, and he looked less in pain than just moments before. "Thanks. See, Alex? All better."

Alex still looked like she didn't believe him, but didn't press the matter. She instead turned to Natalia as Anise, Jade, and Isabell approached the three of them, "What happened?" she asked again, "And where's your bow?"

As Natalia began explaining what had happened to the two of them, Tear found herself zoning out their conversation and turning her gaze back to the place where her brother stood mere minutes before before her eyes stopped on the sword he left in the ground. Already, the others were acting as if everything was normal - or as normal as things could be for them. They were acting as if none of the ordeal had ever occurred, she didn't know if they were doing it to spare Tear's feelings on the matter, but the fact that they didn't seem to acknowledge the fact that her brother had just died irritated her slightly even when she knew they meant no harm by it.

She vaguely registered Guy calling her name before she was fully snapped out of her thoughts by the sudden presence of a hand on her shoulder. She slowly turned her blue eyes to meet Luke's green ones, and felt that the weight of the world was lifted off her shoulders when he gave her that reassuring smile of his. She smiled sadly back at him as he removed his hand and wandered over to where the others stood.

"I hate to sound insensitive," Jade said, his eyes flashing over to where Tear stood before moving back to Luke, "But we still have to lower the Outer Lands."

Without saying anything, the others followed his lead down a stairway Tear hadn't even noticed before. They had to be extremely careful going down the stairs, as there was no railing, and it was a long way to the platform below if any of them fell. They'd already had enough close calls, Tear didn't even want to think about any of them falling.

After activating the passage ring for Luke to control, Tear kept her mind off of Van's recent death by healing any wounds the others had obtained during the battle. Jade, Tear, and Natalia had managed to come out relatively unscathed since they had mostly stayed back to cast, but the others, who had been holding Van off so they could concentrate on their artes, had obviously come out with more damage. Alex and Isabell had both been pretty beaten up, with plenty of slashes and bruises. If it weren't for the chain-mail Alex wore underneath her clothes and Isabell's God-General armor, they would have been a lot worse off. Anise was much the same as them, and she cradled a ripped, torn, and blood covered Tokunaga in her arms. Guy was looking a lot better after Natalia had healed him, but Tear gave him an orange gel to replenish his energy just to be on the safe side. They still had to make it out of the Absorption Gate after Luke successfully lowered the lands, and there were still monsters throughout the place.

None of them really seemed to be worried about their injuries, and were instead content to watch as Luke operated the passage ring under Jade's supervision.

He looked like he was struggling though, his hands were shaking horribly, and his face was contorted in pain. It looked like he wouldn't be able to do it. Tear mentally cursed how they had decided to just prepare the entire land to be lowered all at once, it was obviously too much for Luke.

After all they had done, after all the lives lost in the process...Iemon, Tamara, Hencken, and Cathy. All of the people in Akzeriuth. After all that, it looked like they were going to fail.

Then, suddenly, Luke's hands stopped shaking, and he was no longer in pain. He opened his eyes, as if shocked by how suddenly easy it was, and Tear felt the familiar sensation of the land below her being lowered like an elevator.

"This hyperressonance," Luke said, just loudly enough for Tear to hear, "It's him!"

There was only one person he could mean, and Tear noticed Natalia stand a little straighter at Luke's words. She must have heard him too and come to the same conclusion.

"It appears that the miasma is retreating into the dividing line as we anticipated," Jade said, adjusting his glasses as he examined the passage ring controls.

Everyone instantly brightened at this news. They had done it, the lands were safe. If all went well they could go home to live their normal life after they left the Gate.

After the lands had been safely lowered, Luke promptly fell to his knees, his hands holding him up. He was breathing heavily.

"Luke, what is it?" Jade asked, as they all took notice of Luke's shocked expression.

"Lorelei..." Luke trailed off, "No, it's not important right now. We have to tell everyone it worked."

"Yes," Natalia agreed, Ion, Noelle, and Father must all be worried about us."

"Van..." Tear sighed, looking up at the platform above where they had fought him.

"Tear?"

"I'm sorry, Luke..." Tear replied to him, "I'm glad we did what we did."

"Okay. Let's go home, guys!" Luke said proudly, "To our world!"

* * *

_**A/N:Thanks for all the reviews!  
**_

_**And thus concludes the first part of the fic. Woo! :D **__**They didn't talk about Isabell's phobia because they had other things on their mind after the battle, but I think it's a little obvious what that phobia might be anyway.**_

_**Note that there will be some **_major _**changes to the original storyline in the second half, that's all I'm saying on the matter for now. You'll have to keep reading to figure out what kind of changes I mean, but they won't be too crazy. ;) **_


	42. Peace

_Chapter 42: Peace_

"I think I'm finally starting to hear something!"

Isabell smiled at her younger sister. They were currently on the outskirts of Grand Chokmah, only a short distance away from Theor Forest. Isabell hadn't forgotten the promise she made to Alex in the Absorption Gate a month prior to help her gain control of a fonon. For the past month, Isabell had been visiting Grand Chokmah twice a week in order to train Alex.

During their first training session, Isabell had explained to Alex how to figure out which fonon she could one day control, but they needed a peaceful place for her to concentrate, which was why they were as far away from the sounds of the city as they needed to be.

Alex had seemed almost disappointed when Isabell told her all she needed to do was take a seat in the grass, close her eyes, and listen carefully for a fonon, carefully explaining what each fonon would sound like: the faint crackling of a fire, the rumbling of the earth, waves in an ocean... They'd had one false alarm where Alex had thought she'd heard something, but it had only turned out to be the wind. Isabell had put more emphasis on making sure Alex had blocked out all the sounds of the world around her since then, she wasn't meant to listen with her ears, much to her confusion in the beginning.

Isabell sometimes thought back to when she was being instructed like this. There wasn't a day that went by when she didn't think about where her instructer had disappeared too.

"Good," Isabell told her, "What does it sound like?"

"Umm...Damn, I think I lost it."

"Concentrate."

"I know, I know," Alex replied, it was clear she was getting frustrated. They had been at this for three hours, and she was sure to be getting annoyed since she had already been trying for a month, even practicing at home. Isabell had told her before hand that it would take plenty of time to master, but she had seemed fine with it then, since it would be a good skill to have if the situation ever called for it.

They continued to sit in complete silence for what felt like hours.

"It sounds like..." Alex started, her face wrinkled in concentration, "Ugh, I better not just be hearing the wind again."

Isabell smiled, looking around at the foliage, none of the trees were swaying, there was no breeze at all. "No, I don't think you are." Isabell finally got up from her seat across from Alex, "It only took a month, but you finally got it."

"Was that sarcasm?" Alex asked, opening an eye to look at her.

"I told you it was going to take a while, and being able to hear the fonon is just the beginning." She held out her hand, which Alex took, and helped her off the ground, "That should be enough for today. I want you to practice every night until I come back, it would be better for both of us if it didn't take you long to hear it before we move on to the next step."

Alex nodded, and they both started heading back to the city, Isabell suggesting they get a drink before she left to take a job in Engeve.

They spoke normally as they walked, Alex explaining what had been going on in her life other than their training. Guy had been busy everyday with the House of Nobles, as well as working for Emperor Peony. Apparently he had never elaborated to Alex on what that work for Peony actually was.

With Guy always out and Isabell only ever coming into town twice or sometimes three times a week, Alex was constantly at a loss for something to do. When they had first moved to Grand Chokmah, Alex had attempted twice to explore the city, but had gotten lost on both occasions. Since then, she only ever used the main streets whenever she had to leave the small mansion Guy had built over the month they'd been there, but it seemed that she hadn't yet fully experienced the city. She sometimes found herself visiting Jade whenever she really needed something to do.

As for Isabell, she'd denounced her title of God-General and left the Oracle Knights. Since she was no longer an Oracle Knight, she had taken the opportunity to lose her heavy armor and don more casual clothing. She had even finally found herself with time in the morning to do something more interesting with her hair than her usual ponytail, choosing to have a small braid along the ponytail as well as two smaller braids down her front as well. In the mornings where she was in more of a hurry though, she'd had to settle for her ponytail for her new job as a traveling mercenary.

People had been more paranoid lately about traveling after the lands were lowered, especially the people in the towns of St. Binah and Engeve, who had been most affected by the battle of Rugnica Plains. They were still without a capable city militia after the war, and so many mercenaries had been hired by the people there even to just travel from one town to the other. There were still those people who needed to travel to places like Chesedonia with their goods as well.

It wasn't exactly Isabell's dream job, but it had more freedom than her God-General position, and she would take it over being homeless again any day.

"I still don't know that much about your past," Alex said suddenly as they entered town, "I know that you were homeless after Hod was destroyed and that Van saved you, but other than that I really don't know anything."

"What do you want to know?" Isabell asked.

"Well...How about who trained you? Was it Van?"

Isabell laughed, "No, he was way too busy to train me. When he wasn't busy in the Oracle Headquarters he was visiting Tear in Yulia City. The person who trained me was a woman named Cantabile."

"Cantabile? That name sounds familiar..."

"I think I might have mentioned her before, she played a pretty big part in my life after the Hod war, she spent a lot of time with me outside of training. She was a survivor of Hod too, and was a God-General before I took her place."

"Did she die?"

Isabell shook her head, "I don't know what happened to her. No one does. One day she was there, and then the next...she just disappeared. I think her and Van had been arguing about his ideas prior to her disappearance, I guess they didn't see eye to eye. I think she was just distanced and then never heard from again. Either way, I hope she's still alive somewhere out there."

"So Van gave you her position after she disappeared?"

"Yes, I was promoted from Lieutenant Commander to the Commander of Sixth Division when I was twenty-four, after a mission in Mt. Roneal." Isabell still shuddered to think of that mission and how it had turned out, "Cantabile disappeared a year before that, and I haven't heard from her since. I still think about her constantly though."

"Well, maybe you'll get to see her again one day," Alex told her as they entered a restaurant along the main street of the city.

"I hope so," Isabell replied, remembering how horrible that month was for her; she'd lost Him as well. If it was possible, that experience was even worse than hearing that Cantabile had disappeared.

Isabell mindlessly followed Alex through the restaurant toward the bar, where she ordered drinks for the both of them before taking notice of someone and striking up a conversation with him.

Isabell paid no attention as the two spoke, she was completely lost in thought until Alex snapped her out of it.

"Bell?"

"Hm?"

"Is something the matter?" Jade asked, and Isabell finally noticed he was there, "You look troubled."

"I could ask you the same thing," Isabell countered, taking in his appearance. His eyes were bloodshot, there were bags under his eyes, and his hair was slightly messier than it usually was, "You look dead on your feet."

"He's been busy since we got back from the Absorption Gate," Alex said, "I'm amazed he even managed to get out of his office.

"Oh?" Isabell raised an eyebrow, "So even the Necromancer gets tired."

"Contrary to popular belief, I _do_ happen to be human."

"Really?" Isabell asked, "You had me fooled."

"That hurts, Isabell. You should be kinder to your elders."

"You're hardly any older than me," Isabell raised an eyebrow.

"Regardless, I feel like you're taking advantage of an old man in his weakened state."

Isabell rolled her eyes, she'd heard so much about how brutal this man was to be around. Thinking back on all the stories she'd heard over the years from fellow soldiers that had met or fought against him and his troops, it had to be a lie. Unless traveling around with a bunch of kids for months without any breaks or time away from them managed to change him. She'd only met him on a few occasions, so she couldn't know for sure, but it was a possibility.

Or maybe he was just _that _tired.

That seemed more likely at the moment, so she thought it might be fun to take advantage of his rare moment of weakness. She decided to mess with him a little, "Come on, Jade, those good looks? There's no way they could belong to a human."

It was as if the whole of Auldrant went quiet at her words, and she almost regretted them. Almost. Alex choking on her drink behind Jade was hard to miss, but it was Jade's reaction that gave her the satisfaction. It was the first look of real shock she'd ever seen on his face, as he stopped lifting his drink to his lips and stayed frozen that way for a few moments. But he eventually regained his composure and lowered his drink again, a small smirk on his face. Isabell really didn't know what to expect from him.

"...Ah, so that's what you meant," Jade shrugged, "Yes, well I can see how you'd be mistaken, I have heard that often in my time. I do also happen to be possibly the smartest person I've ever met. Particularly skilled in both literal and military artes...I can certainly see how anyone would believe that I am far too perfect to be human."

"You forgot modest," Isabell muttered. Either he hadn't slept in days and his exhaustion was finally catching up to him, or he was a lightweight and couldn't handle his liquor. Knowing full well that one saw some pretty horrific things on the battlefield that could only be forgotten by the abuse of alcohol, Isabell highly doubted the latter.

But with Jade, it was far more likely that he was just messing with her as well, or trying to mess with Alex, who was still in shock, and remained in shock as Jade got out of his seat and told them he had to be getting back to his office.

"What was that?" Alex demanded after he had left.

"What?"

Alex pointed to where Jade was sitting moments before, "That! You... A-and Jade! What...? I don't even..."

Isabell laughed, "It was nothing. I was just trying to mess with him. See how tired he really was."

"Yeah, right," Alex crossed her arms, "That was definitely flirting. Why Jade? I mean... It's Jade!"

Isabell raised an eyebrow at her, enjoying how freaked out Alex was by this even though there was nothing meant by it, "So what if it was?"

"So? So it's Jade! It's weird."

Isabell smirked at her, she was only continuing the conversation to bug Alex at this point. "You don't think he's good looking?" she asked innocently, placing a finger on her chin, "I bet he'd be really sexy without those glasses..."

Alex's cheeks heated up, and she promptly covered her ears. "I can't hear you! Lalala!"

"Aw, come on. I would support you in any of your relationships," Isabell grinned as Alex lowered her hands from her ears, "In fact, chances are I'd be waiting downstairs with a 'congrats on the sex' cake after your first time."

"Please don't," Alex groaned, her face growing even redder than before, "How would you feel if someone did that to you?"

"Do I really need to answer that?" Isabell laughed, "Come on, free cake!"

Alex crossed her arms, "Fine, I guess we won't be able to agree on this."

"Guess not," Isabell shrugged, taking another sip of he drink.

"Couldn't you do any better than Jade, though? I mean, there had to be somebody you were interested in in Daath, right?"

Isabell froze, not sure what to say on the matter. It had been four years, and she still wasn't completely over what had happened.

"I've...had a couple boyfriends," she said slowly, looking down at her drink and hoping Alex would leave it at that.

"That's it?" she asked, "Just a couple boyfriends? You've never been in a serious relationship?"

"Dating in the military is complicated," Isabell said quickly, not wanting to reach the topic of Morgan. She knew she would have to tell Alex eventually, as he was an important part of Isabell's life, but she wasn't yet ready to talk about it. He was her best friend, her world, the one who brought her out of her shell and saved her when she had fallen into depression all those years ago. She had nothing after he left.

There wasn't a night that went by when she didn't dream of his untidy black hair, his pointed glasses and sparkling blue eyes behind them, his smell, his voice, his laugh...

When Isabell felt tears welling up in her eyes, she decided she needed to change the subject and hoped Alex would go along with it, "So Jade looked pretty tired."

Alex raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't press any further into Isabell's love-life, which was very much appreciated. "I've visited him a few times in his office, it looks like he's had a pile-up of paperwork after being gone for so long, and the pile seems to be getting bigger every time I visit him."

"He doesn't have an assistant or someone to help him with that?"

Alex shrugged, "I think he used to have a second in command who helped with that sort of thing. I think Anise said his name was Marco or something, but apparently he died during the attack on the Tartarus outside of Engeve a few months ago. That was back before Akzeriuth was destroyed and we didn't know Luke was a replica. Guess he just hasn't been able to find someone else yet."

Isabell nodded before taking notice of the time, she'd been there far too long now.

"Damn," she said as she stood up and paid for the drinks, noticing that the bastard-colonel in question had left her his check to pay, probably as pay-back for attempting to mess with him, "I have to get over to Engeve for a job. I think this guy's going to Grand Chokmah though, so I might even be back tomorrow."

"So are we training again tomorrow?" Alex asked as she followed Isabell out of the restaurant.

"Nah, I think you deserve a bit of a break as long as you keep practicing at night. We can just spend some quality sister time tomorrow instead. Unless you have something planned, that is."

Alex's face lit up, "Nope! Sounds good."

...

After Alex saw Isabell off, she couldn't think of anything to do. She had to laugh when she thought of Isabell telling her to try and stay out of any drama, her life was pretty uneventful when she wasn't training, so even if she managed to find some drama she doubted it would affect he that much. She almost missed the whole 'save the world' thing.

Not that she regretted moving to Grand Chokmah with Guy, she was still happy she did it, but he was busy with the House of Nobles and the jobs Emperor Peony had for him so often that she never had anything to do. One of the only differences from her old life was that she wasn't locked up in a manor, but rather chose to stay there most of the time so she wouldn't get lost again. She'd even resorted to drawing floral designs all over the walls of her new bedroom, discovering in the process that she enjoyed painting as well as her old passion for flowers. But after her walls were completely covered, she was again at a loss.

She only knew the main road from their new home to the palace and Malkuth's military headquarters, which was half the reason she ended up visiting Jade about a couple times a week, sometimes more.

Her mind wandered back to when Isabell was talking about her love-life in Daath, and she couldn't help but feel that she was hiding some important facts from her. There had to have been some relationship she'd had that must have ended badly that would make her not want to talk about it. She didn't want to make Isabell say anything she didn't want to though, so she had dropped it.

Alex decided she might as well go home and take a shower, having nothing else to do since Guy was at the House of Nobles again. He was always busy basically from the moment they got to Grand Chokmah. At first, not only did he have the House of Nobles and the various jobs Peony had for him to worry about, he'd also had to worry about the building of the small mansion they were now living in. Of course, Peony had been more than happy to allow them to stay in the palace while it was built.

With all the jobs and stress Guy had to worry about, Alex rarely ever saw him except for at night, and by then he was always exhausted. She knew he felt guilty about leaving her alone in the place all the time, but she really didn't blame him.

They had never had the chance to talk about their kiss.

Alex was hardly even paying attention to what she was doing as she got dressed and left the mansion.

Granted, it could hardly even be classified as a kiss in the first place, seeing as it was so short. But that was only because he was still getting over his phobia. Even now, he still wasn't over it. That was another reason she didn't want to bring it up with him. She didn't want to pressure him into anything.

When she'd mentioned this to Isabell one time, she'd told Alex that it might be better for her to move on and find someone else without a phobia.

But she didn't want to.

She wasn't paying attention to where her feet were taking her as she collided with someone in the street, the person's paperwork scattering around them as they both hit the ground.

"I'm so sorry!" she cried as she got on her knees and scrambled to help him gather up all the paper before they blew away in the wind. After a few moments, they both stood up and Alex handed him the paperwork she'd collected, looking up into tired, red eyes she knew all to well.

"It's quite alright," Jade informed her as he took the papers from her outstretched hands.

"Sorry, Colonel," Alex said, knowing from his tone of voice that it really wasn't alright.

Jade sighed, "You might as well come in for tea, I'll have to reorganize these papers before I can turn them in."

Alex was shocked to find that she had ended up at the entrance to the Malkuth headquarters, and Jade noticed the shock on her face.

"Did my sudden invite startle you?" he asked as he led her into his office in the back of the headquarters.

"No...Well, yes," Alex replied, "But I just didn't even notice I was in this part of the city."

"Daydreaming while wandering the city again? I thought I wouldn't have to tell you after last time that you could easily get lost in this city while doing that."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Alex couldn't help but think back to earlier that day when he and Isabell were talking.

Suddenly her mind was flooded with images of a wedding between Isabell and Jade, and the very thought scared her. She didn't exactly want Jade as a brother-in-law. If anything, he was more like a father-figure to her, as weird as that was to think about. It was probably just his age that had her thinking that though.

"Make yourself comfortable," he told her as they entered the familiar office. The stack of paper on his desk actually looked smaller this time, but since he now had to reorganize the work he had already done, he was back to getting nowhere.

"Sorry again, Colonel," she told him as he laid out the paperwork on his desk, "Shouldn't you get someone to help you with all this? You really look like you need some rest."

"I hardly have time for that now," he replied simply, "With all the time it would take to find someone I could trust, it would be just as productive if I worked on this myself."

"But that's way too much work for one person," Alex countered, "And you're getting less and less productive with every day you don't get any sleep or breaks from this at all. You're busy with other duties too, aren't you? How could have time for all that?"

"Well, then," Jade looked up at her, "What do you suggest I do?"

Before Alex could answer his question, the door to his office opened unannounced.

"How's my non-cute Jade?"

Alex knew Emperor Peony was quite different from the other nobles she had been around from stories she'd heard from Guy, though Jade had also mentioned once that he tended to act differently around the civilians than how he usually acted with the people he was close to, but she just didn't understand this statement, "...Non-cute Jade?"

Jade sighed, "Your Majesty, must you confuse my guest?"

"Sorry, man. Just felt like visiting my best friend, or do I need to give notice of that now?" He took one of the seats opposite Jade's desk, leaning back in the chair, "I heard you were going to drop off some paperwork, but then you never showed up. So what's been going on?"

"That's my fault, Your Highness," Alex told him, "I accidentally knocked into him outside, and the paperwork fell out of his hands. I helped him pick it all up, but..."

"It's all disorganized now," Peony finished, "Well, that's a bummer. You have to organize it all again?"

"I'm afraid so," Jade replied, giving up on organizing it while he had Peony and Alex in the room.

"Don't I keep telling you to get some help?" Peony said, looking at his friend in worry, "I'm not sure how long you can keep this up."

"That's what I told him!" Alex agreed. For someone who was recently bragging about his intelligence, he was at a serious lack of common sense.

Jade sighed again and got up from his seat, "I'll get some tea."

"I can get it, Colonel," Alex told him.

"That won't be necessary, I'd rather not have my ear talked off all day about how I let a guest get our drinks."

"Especially when that guest is as cute as Alexandra," Peony said, giving Alex a wink, making her feel slightly uncomfortable. Again, she'd heard from Jade that he had a tendency to flirt with all women, but she was still surprised by this action.

Jade didn't seem too impressed by it either, "Your Majesty, _please_ control yourself while I get the tea."

Peony laughed, "Fine, fine."

Peony turned to Alex after Jade left, and she was worried for a few seconds about him making any inappropriate comments.

"Don't worry," he laughed, seeing the look on her face, "I don't bite."

Alex could see where he could take that simple comment and turn it into something else, but he seemed to be doing as Jade said and was refraining himself.

"What is it?" he asked, noticing Alex's look of suspicion, "That comment I made about how cute you are? Come on, I was only being friendly! Is that illegal or something in Kimlasca?"

Alex still didn't really know how to respond to him, he was so different from the other nobles she'd met.

Peony raised an eyebrow "Is talking illegal in Kimlasca too?..."

"S-sorry," Alex finally said, "I'm just not sure how to respond to that."

He looked relieved that she had finally spoken, "Okay then, let's talk about something else. How are you liking Grand Chokmah so far?"

"It's a nice city," Alex told him, "I like it a lot, but I'm just a bit bored..." She didn't want to bother him with her problems, but he listened intently as she told him about how she had nothing to do when Isabell wasn't in town. He looked a bit guilty when she mentioned how Guy was always too busy to do anything with her, and how she was worried about getting too lost if she went out on her own since she had never had any experience with big cities despite growing up in Baticul.

"I just wish I had more to do in my spare time," she ended.

"Hmm...That would be a problem."

Peony was still deep in thought when Jade re-entered the room with a tray of tea, before he suddenly got an excited look on his face.

"Hey!" he announced, "I have an idea! Jade, why don't you hire Alex as an assistant in your office?"

Jade and Alex exchanged looks, seeming to share the same thought.

"With all due respect, Your Highness, I'm trained for nothing."

* * *

_**A/N: I don't know if anyone knows of, or remembers Cantabile from the game...wish she had actually made it into the game since she sounded awesome. I decided to bring her into Isabell's past a bit, and I used as much info as I could on her. I don't know the real date she disappeared so I just made that part up to go with Isabell's age and what-not. I have plans for her to come up again later on, but as I don't know much on how she acts, for now I don't plan to have her physically there unless I can find something that gives me more of an idea on her character. **_


	43. Cameron

_Chapter 43: Cameron_

"With all due respect, Your Highness, I'm trained for nothing."

Peony only laughed, "Brilliant! We can fix that, can't we, Jade?"

"Your Majesty," Jade sighed, "If you're assuming that I would teach her how to do her job, you would be incorrect. You should know more than anyone that I loathe the idea of myself imparting knowledge on anyone."

Though Jade wasn't too happy about Peony meddling in his life, yet again, he'd gotten used to it by now. And besides, perhaps the idea wasn't so bad.

The fact of the matter was, he needed someone to help him catch up with his paperwork, he couldn't keep it up by himself much longer. He had intended to find a replacement for Marco when he found the time, but he simply couldn't find that time when he was trying to catch up; it was a never ending cycle. It would also be nice to have someone he already knew, instead of having to take the time to get even a basic idea of what his new assistant would be like - something he didn't exactly care too much about in the first place.

The only problem was Alex not knowing how to do her new job. He was sure she would be capable after she was trained, but he just didn't have the time or energy to teach her himself, nor would he have wanted to in the first place. He'd grown tired of explaining things after the group's 'Grand Adventure'.

"Your Highness," Alex tried, "I'm really not sure this is a good idea. Wouldn't you get in trouble for giving me a job without any military experience-"

"Don't worry about it! I'm sure giving a job to one of the people who saved Auldrant won't be a problem. Besides, it's not like you'll be given a high ranking right off the bat. You'll just be an assistant for now."

"For now?..." Alex seemed to still be unsure, "...Alright, but I still don't know how to _do_ that job. Am I expected to just watch the Colonel and steal the knowledge he's so unwilling to impart on me?"

Peony smiled, "Won't be necessary! I hired someone to show you the ropes."

Jade sighed, he'd had a feeling Peony had planned this.

"You really didn't have to do all this for me, Emperor Peony," Alex started, "I- Wait a minute! Did you plan this? There's no way you could have hired someone in the last five minutes!"

"Nonsense! Cameron, you can come in now!"

The door slowly creaked open and everyone turned their attention to it. A young man, who looked to be around the age of twenty-three, entered the room, smiling nervously around at them. Jade could understand how he'd be nervous, it was probably shocking for the man to be summoned by the Emperor himself.

Cameron didn't appear to be someone of high ranking, he was wearing the standard Malkuth military uniform, though he didn't appear to be a soldier, as he wasn't wearing much armor. He must have been in the intelligence division, or just an assistant to a higher-up himself, which would explain why Peony would have chosen him to show Alex how to do her job.

He seemed to be fairly new to the job, as Jade had never seen him before. Granted, he'd been holed up in his office since returning, and had been gone for months before that. Not to mention he was never exactly social with anyone in Headquarters in the first place.

"Y-you called me, Your Majesty?" Cameron asked, bowing with his wavy brown hair falling into his handsome face.

Jade's first impression of this man was that he was awkward. He seemed nice enough, but he wasn't so sure he would trust someone like him to train Alex.

"No need to be nervous," Peony told him, "Now, let me introduce you. This is Jade-"

"The Necromancer," Cameron's bright blue eyes sparkled in excitement, "I've been wanting to meet you for a while, sir! I've read all your books- and...Sorry, Your Majesty, I didn't mean to interrupt you."

Perhaps the kid wasn't so bad after all.

Peony laughed, "It's fine, don't worry about it. Anyway, this is Alex, the girl I talked to you about earlier."

Cameron smiled at her, and proceeded to shake her hand, "It's nice to meet you, you have no idea the amount of respect I have for you and your friends for saving us. I'm honored to have the chance to thank you both personally. But...I never expected you to be so attractive."

Well, that was quite forward. It almost appeared that Guy would have some competition.

"O-oh," Alex blushed, "Um, thank you, but that's really not necessary."

"I look forward to getting to know you better," Cameron continued, "Shall we get started?"

Alex followed Cameron out of the room as he chatted happily to her about how the job would be really easy once she got used to it, and if she ever had any questions he would be more than willing to answer.

"This should be good for you."

Jade turned his gaze over to his friend, who now wore a serious expression. He was often impressed by how Peony could always act like the average uncivilized man around certain people, perhaps in an attempt to make them feel a bit more comfortable around him. But then he would turn around and be completely serious, acting in the manner most would expect of royalty, despite still slacking off occasionally.

Jade pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "I had a feeling you'd planned that."

"Of course," he replied simply, "Honestly, Jade. I haven't been this worried about you since your obsession with that Professor Nebilim research."

Jade didn't want to get into that topic of conversation, "So you weren't worried about me when I disappeared after Akzeriuth?"

"That's different," Peony told him, "Besides I knew you were alive."

"How could you possibly have been so sure?"

"I just was, and don't change the subject!"

"And what subject is that?"

"You need help here - you can't do this all on your own. I spoke to Guy the other day, and he told me about how Alex rarely had anything to do in her spare time," Peony informed him, "I decided to kill two birds with one stone."

"I suppose this is one of those rare plans of yours that I can deal with," Jade sighed.

"And I've noticed something since you came back from the Absorption Gate."

Jade raised an eyebrow, "And that would be?"

"You're different from before you met those kids," Peony smirked, leaning back in his chair once more, "It's almost like you've gone and developed a human heart! Who knows, maybe having Alex around might open you up a bit more."

Jade chuckled as he adjusted his glasses, "Try not to keep your hopes up, Your Majesty."

Peony laughed, and then came the dreaded words Jade knew were coming the second the idea of hiring Alex were out of Peony's mouth.

"And now that someone will be helping you with your paperwork, you'll have more time to hang!"

Jade shuddered at the thought as Peony laughed, he never exactly cared for Peony's rappigs, and he knew his friend's idea of 'hanging' would include his ridiculous pets.

...

Guy had been starting to feel guilty about how bust he had been since he and Alex had moved to Grand Chokmah. He hardly ever had time to spend with her, and when he did, he was always tired.

But Emperor Peony had given him the night off of the miscellaneous duties he usually had to do, so he had intended to spend that time with Alex. She had mentioned the other day that she still hadn't really seen much of Grand Chokmah, since she was scared of getting lost. Guy couldn't really blame, after spending her entire life locked up in the manor, she didn't exactly have the greatest sense of direction.

He figured she'd be home, since she normally wasn't doing anything at that time of night. Again, he felt bad for never being able to take her out into the city before, because Grand Chokmah was especially beautiful during the evening, what with the moonlight reflecting off the water.

But he'd finally be able to spend time with her tonight.

When he got home, he saw that Alex wasn't there. He figured Isabell must have been in town, or she was visiting Jade for something to do, so he decided to wait for her. She would probably be home pretty soon, it was starting to get late, and it wasn't really safe for her to be out alone at night in a place as big as Grand Chokmah.

An hour went by, where Guy had decided to write a letter to Luke to see how he was doing, and she still hadn't returned. It wasn't dark yet, but Guy couldn't be sure that nothing had happened to her. She was probably fine, maybe she just went out for dinner with Isabell or something.

Even so, he grabbed his coat and left out the door, deciding to look for her. Maybe it was the after-effects of constantly worrying for their lives for months without break, but Guy couldn't help but feel a little paranoid. He couldn't exclude the possibility of her having gotten herself lost either.

He walked down the main street, figuring that she would probably be along that road somewhere, since she wouldn't have wanted to risk going down any other roads, especially when it was starting to get late, and it wasn't long before he found her...

With another man he had never seen before in his life.

Immediately Guy wondered where she would have even met this guy. He highly doubted she would have met him in her training with Isabell, especially since they didn't even train in town. As he got closer to the table they were sitting at outside a restaurant, he noticed that the man was wearing a Malkuth uniform, so it was likely that she had met him while visiting Jade.

They looked like they were having a good time, she was laughing at something he had said, and Guy felt a slight pang of jealousy. He didn't know why, and he didn't like it. They probably weren't on a date anyway... Alex wasn't the type to go out with someone she had just met, and besides, she _had_ kissed Guy just a month ago... Those two were probably just friends.

But they hadn't even talked about the kiss in the entire month that had passed by since it happened. He had been too busy. He regretted not talking about it now, though. What if she thought he wasn't interested?

He decided he might as well leave them alone, so he turned around and started to head back home.

"Guy!"

He turned back in their direction to see Alex waving at him from their table. He sighed and walked over to them, pretending like he hadn't seen them there.

"I was looking for you," he told her, "You're usually home by now, so I got worried."

"Sorry," Alex replied nervously, "A lot happened today."

Guy nodded, his eyes wandering over to the man sitting opposite Alex. He was awkwardly playing with the food on his plate.

"Oh, this is Cameron," Alex told Guy.

"It's nice to meet you," Cameron smiled, holding out a hand, which Guy took, "I was telling Alex earlier how much I respect you guys for saving the Outer Lands."

"Nice to meet you too," Guy said, feeling that there was something a little off about this guy. It was probably just paranoia. "How did you two meet?"

"It's kind of a long story," Alex told him, "You might as well grab a chair and join us."

Guy did as she said, and accepted to offer to share the food on her plate, only just realizing how hungry he was, and listened to her recount what had happened. Cameron didn't look too pleased about the extra company, but he didn't say anything about it.

"Wait, hold on," Guy said, "You're going to _willingly_ work for Jade? Are you seriously _that_ bored?"

Alex laughed, "Kind of. And he does really need the help, you should see how tired he is."

"Is he really that bad?" Cameron asked.

"He's..." Guy started, trying to find the right words, "You can't really explain Jade."

"You'd have to experience it first hand," Alex added,

"There are a lot of rumors about him in headquarters," Cameron said, "You guys traveled with him for months, does he really scavenge peoples' corpses after battle?"

Guy and Alex laughed.

"No, I'm pretty sure that's just rumor," Alex told him.

The night went on, and Guy tried his best to be pleasant toward Cameron, but if it was possible, it was almost harder than trying to be nice to Asch. After he had realized that he and Alex were not on a date, Guy loosened up a bit, but he still got the feeling that Cameron shouldn't be trusted. He almost wished they could go back to the days at the manor when everything was simpler.

It wasn't long before it started to get dark, and Guy not-so-subtly suggested that he and Alex get home. After she waved goodbye to Cameron, they went their separate ways, and Alex and Guy started walking.

Guy was trying to hide his irritation about Cameron, but it proved to be a difficult task when Alex started talking about how nice and helpful Cameron was, and how when she told him she hadn't really had the chance to see all of Grand Chokmah yet he had offered to show her around. She was glad Emperor Peony chose him to train her.

Guy nodded along as she spoke, he would have to ask Emperor Peony about this the next day when he took care of his rappigs.

* * *

"So you met Cameron, huh?"

"Yeah," Guy couldn't think of anything else to say to the emperor. He'd done so much for them, Guy couldn't exactly come out and say he wasn't really impressed with Peony's choice of someone to train Alex.

Apparently, the expression on his face had said it for him.

Peony laughed at him, "Come on, he seems like a nice kid."

Again, Guy couldn't think of a response, and instead stared blankly ahead, not really paying attention to the rappig he was currently grooming in the disaster area that was Emperor Peony's room.

"Oh, I see," Peony said, taking a bite of the apple in is hand, "That's the problem, isn't it?"

"W-what do you mean, Your Majesty?"

"You know what I mean," Peony replied, "It doesn't take a genius to figure out you have a thing for Alex."

"That's-"

"Green's not a flattering color on you, Gailardia."

"I'm not jealous," Guy told him, trying to focus on the rappig in front of him.

"And I don't happen to be stupid," Peony laughed, "You're obviously paranoid about this guy getting to spend more time with her than you. And I don't blame you. When you think about it, Alex didn't exactly have a whole lot of options living in the manor, did she? You must have been the only person she really _could_ look at romantically. Now that she has the opportunity to meet more guys, it can't be good for you. And your phobia doesn't help much either, does it?"

He really wasn't helping Guy's mood, and he got the feeling Peony was saying it all just to get a rise out of him.

"But!" Peony announced happily, getting Guy to look away from the rappig and towards the emperor, "Fortunately for you, I'm on your side! Here..."

Peony took a moment to fish something out of the drawer next to his bed, and after he found it he promptly handed it to Guy, who looked down at it in curiosity.

"A psychologist?" Guy asked as he looked down at the card. Did he really need one?

Peony shrugged, "It couldn't hurt. He might be able to help you get over that phobia of yours faster. If you're lucky, you could get over it in time to ask Alex out before Cameron does."

It was almost as if Peony had planned everything, from getting Alex a job and Cameron training her, to trying to get Guy to get over his phobia faster. It was almost as if he was trying to scare Guy into asking Alex out.

"Your Majesty," Guy asked slowly, trying to think of the right words, "Did you plan all of this?"

"This guy's really good," Peony avoided the question completely, pointing to the name on the card, "Between you and me, I had Jade going to him a few years ago when he was having a rough time. Before long, Dr. Vaccaro had him back to normal."

"_Normal_?" Guy asked, looking at Peony with a raised eyebrow. With only that information, Guy doubted this guy would do him much good.

"Well, as normal as Jade could get," Peony waved off his question, "Trust me, he was pretty messed up. He was having some...troubles getting over the past. And don't tell him I told you about this, it'll be our little secret, right Gailardia?"

"Yeah, sure..." Guy agreed, wondering what Peony was talking about.

"How have you been doing with your phobia, anyway?" Peony asked.

"I've been getting better, but I'm still struggling with it," Guy told him, "I'm not sure I'll need to go to this guy, but thank you for thinking about me, Your Majesty."

"Well, if you ever change your mind about it, just tell me," Peony said, "I can get you an appointment to go with your busy schedule to start out. Alexandra's not going to wait around forever, you know," he added with a smile.

"I'll think about it over night," Guy told him with a sigh. He didn't know if it would even help his phobia at all, but it could be worth a shot.

* * *

As Guy walked through the door to their home, he was greeted with an unpleasant sound. He vaguely wondered when and why they even had a piano when he flinched at the sound of the out of key notes.

Nonetheless, he followed the source of the noise before it stopped, being replaced with the sound of someone playing the piano properly, beautifully even. Before long, the out of key notes had returned, and Guy slowly opened the door to the room the sound was coming from. He peered though the crack in the door, seeing the backs of Alex and Isabell sitting on the piano bench. Neither of them had noticed him as Isabell attempted yet again to teach Alex a song.

"I suck!" Alex announced frustratedly as she failed once again to play the song, crossing her arms and glaring at a very entertained Isabell.

"I didn't think it was that bad," Guy said, opening the door fully and leaning on the door-frame with his arms crossed.

Alex froze before turning to face him. Her face was bright red, and she looked shocked to see him there.

"How long have you been there?" she asked, as Isabell mouthed the word 'smooth' behind her back.

Guy laughed, "Not long."

"Well, you must be deaf," Alex told him, still blushing, "Because that was horrible."

"You're just learning," Guy told her, "You're not supposed to be good right away."

"You'll get better," Isabell added.

"What brought this on, anyway?" Guy asked.

"Alex and I were talking about our parents," Isabell told him, "And I mentioned that our mother was teaching me piano before the war. I took it up again after Van brought me to Daath, it was how I dealt with stress and relaxed. Alex asked me to teach her."

"I didn't think you were home..." Alex muttered, her cheeks still slightly red.

"So what if I am?" Guy laughed, "You don't have to be embarrassed because you're not an amazing player yet."

"So you admit that I suck."

"You're a beginner."

Alex sighed and said that she had to go check on something before leaving the room, Isabell and Guy watching her go.

"I heard about Cameron," Isabell told him once Alex was gone, "You seem to be taking it well."

"Taking what well?" Guy asked, really not wanting to have this conversation again.

"That you could have potentially lost your chance with Alex," she told him with a raised eyebrow, "Look, I like you, Guy, but you're being an idiot."

Guy rolled his eyes, "Thanks."

"Why are you still waiting around?" Isabell asked him, "Alex isn't going to wait around forever, and even though I'd prefer if she ended up with someone like you, I can't say I blame her if she went with someone else. I've talked to her about all this, and she's under the impression you aren't even interested in her anymore."

"But I am," Guy told her.

"Well, then grow a pair and tell _her_ that."

"I've been so busy..." Guy trailed off, "And I'm still not completely over my phobia yet."

"Somehow, I get the feeling Alex would be more willing to wait for you to get over that phobia if you told her your feelings. You can't expect her to wait for something she thinks might not even happen."

Guy sighed, Isabell was making sense, "Yeah."

Isabell smiled, "All I'm saying is, if Cameron asks her out and she accepts, don't get mad at them because you never told her how you felt. The only person you would have the right to be mad at is yourself."

* * *

Isabell ended up spending the night, much to Alex's excitement.

Guy was still awake past midnight, staring blankly at the card Emperor Peony had given him earlier as he lay in his bed.

Peony and Isabell had both made good points, he couldn't wait around any longer without risking losing Alex to Cameron. He almost wished they could go back a month or two when they were traveling together and always around each other. Even with all the drama of saving Auldrant, everything seemed a lot simpler back then between the two of them...

He sighed and put the card down on his bedside table before turning over and closing his eyes.

Maybe a psychologist wasn't such a bad idea...


	44. Warning

_Chapter 44: Warning_

It had been a week since Alex accepted the job as Jade's assistant, and so far she had grown to like it. Though she had a sneaking suspicion that was all because she hadn't actually worked with Jade yet.

For the time being, she had been 'observing' Cameron as he worked. At first, she'd thought following him around all day and watching as he helped his superior with paperwork would be awkward, but he'd somehow managed to make the experience fun for her.

He'd always had some sort of joke on hand to lighten the mood when he was showing her how to properly file reports, and always made her feel welcome when she watched as he did paperwork, telling her she only needed to fill out certain parts of it, while leaving only simple things like the signatures for Jade to fill in later on.

So far it seemed like a fairly simple job, there was yet to be any part of it where she couldn't wrap her head around it in a few minutes. Really, she doubted she truly needed Cameron's help anymore, but something about his presence was just comforting. She didn't quite want to start in Jade's office yet. She doubted it would be as fun.

But she had agreed to be his assistant because he needed help, so she couldn't put it off for much longer.

She groaned as she forced herself out of bed in the morning before shuffling into the adjoining bathroom and taking a shower to wake herself up; the one thing she didn't really like about the job was the fact that she had to wake up a lot earlier than she had gotten used to over the month spent in Grand Chokmah so far. The only thought forcing her to get out of bed was that she didn't have to wake up as early as she had when she and the others were traveling around trying to save Auldrant.

At the thought of the others, Alex remembered that she had received letters from Anise and Noelle the night before. She had read them, but was too tired to respond at the time.

She quickly got dressed and dealt with her hair, which had been growing longer over the months since she left Baticul, as it was now past her shoulders. She thought her hair looked better longer now that it was brown rather than red, so she hadn't been tempted to cut it, though she had kept up with trimming her bangs. Now that it was longer, it was also a lot wavier than it used to be. She quickly pulled her hair up into a messy bun before leaving the bathroom.

After she was as ready as she would be, she still had some time to spare before she had to head to Malkuth Headquarters to start her day, so she sat down at the small desk in her bedroom, placing the stuffed rappig Noah Guy had gotten her for her birthday years ago to the side so she wouldn't spill ink on him while she wrote her replies to Anise and Noelle.

_Anise,_

_Get back to me when you find out about that trip to visit Luke and Natalia. I wouldn't get your hopes up about the luxury cruiser though. Besides, if I know the Duke, Luke may not even get the letter. He responded to my letter about a week ago, saying I was the only to write him so far. When did you send yours? I know for a fact that Guy sent one a little while ago and never got a reply._

_Guy and I would be happy to have you visit anytime, can't say anything for Jade though. You know how hard it is to tell what he's thinking. Oh well, I'm sure even he wouldn't be against spending some time with you whenever you're here. Oh, and speaking of our sarcastic and lovable colonel, guess who just got a job working as his assistant? Don't ask me how it happened, even I'm not really sure. All I know is Emperor Peony offered the job, and for reasons I'm not sure of, Jade agreed and I accepted.  
_

_It's good to know that you and Ion are both doing well, everything's fine on our end too. Just a bit hectic, but I'm sure you're both busy as well. I hope we'll get the chance to meet up soon. I fully intend to keep the promise I made to you in the Absorption Gate. Just make sure you write saying you're coming to visit instead of showing up unexpected. We may need some time to prepare for a guest._

_And no, Guy hasn't asked me out._

_Alex_

She folded the letter into three and carefully placed it inside an envelope before moving on to Noelle's letter. She wondered with a smirk how Anise would react to Alex's new job before she began writing out her response to Noelle.

She wasn't surprised to hear in Noelle's letter that Asch had apparently arrived in Sheridan to borrow the Albiore III and Noelle's brother, Ginji, as the pilot over a month ago. Luke had said right after they lowered the land that Asch must have helped him from the Radiation Gate, and that he could feel his hyperressonance while controlling the passage ring. It was only logical that Asch would need to ability to fly to get there.

She did find it curious, however, that they had never returned to Sheridan afterward. Noelle and Aston had apparently not heard from Ginji yet either.

Alex wrote down in her neat, loopy handwriting that she was sure Ginji was fine, and that Asch was probably just keeping him busy with whatever they were doing.

She was also happy to hear that Sheridan was almost fully back on its feet after what happened when they were attempting to stabilize the core. It sounded as if Noelle had now fully come to terms with Iemon and Tamara's deaths, and she was happy Noelle wasn't depressed about it anymore. They had all been worried about her, as she wasn't even allowed the small privilege of grieving as the others had been with their problems.

The pilot had always had to put her feelings aside so she could safely get them where they needed to go, and there were a lot of times when the others felt bad about that.

Alex paused for a moment, bringing her pen to her lips in thought as she reread Noelle's letter for a comment she may have forgotten to address, before adding,

_And no, Guy hasn't asked me out._

Why did people keep fixating on that? Alex wondered with a laugh as she signed the bottom of the letter and placed it in another envelope. Everyone she'd received a letter from so far had asked that same question: "Are you two a couple yet?"

Even Tear's letter, that had come off more like a situation report, had subtly managed to ask, though Tear didn't seem quite as interested in the topic as the others had. The only person who hadn't asked was Natalia, who was more interested in how Alex was getting along in Malkuth, and if she had been able to spend more time with Isabell now that things had finally calmed down.

Alex wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or amused with everyone, though seeing them all wonder the same thing made it feel more like they were traveling together again, and they were all trying to pester the two of them about it at every opportunity.

She picked up the two letters and left her room, she'd drop them off at the post office on her way to meet Cameron outside of Headquarters. She was looking forward to spending another day with him, as he seemed very kind so far, and she wanted to get to know him better. She had the feeling they would continue to be friends even after she stopped working with him.

"Alex!"

Alex was snapped out of her thoughts as Guy approached her in the hallway. It had been well over a month, but she was still getting used his newer clothes. He had understandably long-since abandoned his servant's attire from Baticul, as there really was no point to him wearing it anymore, even if they had looked good on him.

He now wore a long-sleeved, forest-green shirt underneath a high-collar vest that was a dark, ashen-orange near the top, and an off-white at the bottom. He wore the same black pants as he always had, and the boots were pretty similar to his old ones as well - they were just missing the yellow trim near the top. Pulling everything together was a brown belt around his middle, over the green shirt, but under the vest.

She found him a lot more attractive in his newer clothes, probably because the long sleeves of his new shirt defined his muscles a lot more since they were a lot tighter than the old one's, as her eyes were usually drawn to his arms when she saw him now. She had long-since stopped her ridiculous blushing whenever he was around, though, thank Yulia.

If he had noticed, he never did say anything about it.

"You're heading out now?" Guy asked.

Alex nodded, "Mm-hmm. Leaving a bit early so I can mail a couple letters. What are you still doing here? Aren't you usually on your way to the palace by now?"

"Emperor Peony gave me the day off," Guy smiled, "I don't really have anything to do all day."

"Then what are you doing awake?!" Alex asked incredulously. She knew Guy was more of a morning person than she could ever be, but still, "It's six-thirty in the morning!"

Guy laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head, "I know, I guess I'm just used to being up early. Besides, I wanted to ask you something before you left."

"Well, alright. I'm listening."

"You still haven't seen a lot of Grand Chokmah yet, right?"

Alex nodded.

Guy smiled, "Just don't make any plans for tonight, alright?"

Alex blinked twice before nodding once more, "Yeah, alright."

Alex left the house excited, grabbing a coat and umbrella on her way out. Even the downpour of rain outside couldn't ruin her mood. It sounded as if she was finally going to be able to spend some real time with Guy. She had been hoping for such an occasion since they moved to Grand Chokmah.

Luckily, the post office in Grand Chokmah was on her way to Headquarters, and she wasted no time in getting there. She had gotten used to the rain since they moved, as it rained a lot there, but she wanted to be inside and dry as soon as possible. It was also still somewhat dark outside as it was still early in the morning, so she didn't want to linger too much.

Something caught her attention, however, just as she went to open the door to the post office, causing her to push her desire to be inside where it was warm and stepped back into the rain, towards the man fast approaching the area she was in. What was he doing here?

"Asch?" she called after the man as he passed her. She recognized the less-than-happy facial expression and long red hair in an instant.

He stopped at the mention of his name and turned back to face her. He wore only his usual uniform, so he was soaking wet, his normally slicked back bangs plastered to his face.

"Oh, it's you," was all he said, folding his arms and waiting for her to say something.

Alex tried to think of something to say, she wasn't sure why she called out to him, and he looked like he was getting impatient.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, thinking of nothing else to say to him.

He merely shrugged before looking away, "Nothing important."

"Then couldn't you head back to Sheridan or something sometime and let Ginji see his family?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow, "His sister's getting worried about him."

Asch didn't respond, and she turned to walk inside the post office, sensing their conversation wasn't about to go anywhere.

Before she could, however, Asch strode from where he was a few feet away to right in front of her. For an instant she thought he only wanted the shade of her umbrella, before he leaned down and said lowly in her ear, "Watch the God-Generals."

With that, he had turned his back on her once again and walked away, not even bothering with a goodbye.

"Sure, whatever," Alex muttered, as he walked away, not fully wrapping her head around his words yet. She yelled after him, cupping a hand around one side of her mouth so her voice would carry through the rain, "Just make sure you let Ginji send a letter to Noelle sometime at least, alright?!"

"Whatever!" he shouted back, "He'll have plenty of time to do that in St. Binah, it's not my problem if he doesn't."

Her mind stayed focused on what he had told her as she mailed her letters.

Watch the God-Generals? But there was only one left after Isabell and Asch, and Dist was in prison, wasn't he? She made a mental note to mention this to Jade. If anyone had any info on Dist, it was probably him.

* * *

Her day with Cameron went well, as she had expected. She'd yet to find a side to him she didn't really like.

She had started to pick up on how to do things, and as such he had her helping him out with a few things. He was very kind whenever she ended up making a mistake, and told her at every opportunity that she was doing a good job.

He appeared to be really into science, and constantly asked Alex questions about Jade and talked about his books and research. She found it slightly odd that someone could like Jade so much, but figured it was because Cameron had never actually spent any real time with the bespectacled old man. She had to admit that Jade was entertaining to be around under certain circumstances, and she had grown somewhat fond of him over the time spent together over the months, their senses of humor happened to go well together most times.

But she knew that he wasn't really being Jade unless he was bugging someone and making their life unbearable in some way. And while it was always entertaining to watch, it always sucked to be the target.

And that was just what she would be while trapped alone with him in an office all day.

She would always be there, just waiting for him to...do Jade things. Whatever horrible things they happened to be. She did not like the idea of being subjected to these unspeakable Jade things on a day to day basis. At least with five others there the target switched constantly.

Why did she agree to take the job, again?

Oh yeah, she was bored.

Curse Emperor Peony and his excellent timing!

"Do you have any idea how much I admire his intellect?" Cameron was asking, snapping Alex out of her thoughts as she absentmindedly watched him sort through files, "I'm really jealous of you, you know. Getting to spend so much time with him."

Alex laughed, "Don't be. I think you're better off fanboying over him from a safe distance."

Cameron blushed slightly, "I'm not a fanboy!"

"Of course you are," Alex said, raising an eyebrow, "You've been talking about Jade for the past hour!"

"Have I really?" Cameron asked, his cheeks growing redder. He laughed, "Sorry. I guess I got a bit carried away. Let's change the subject then..."

He ended up changing the subject back to something science-based, and Alex just let him ramble on, not even trying to grasp any of the scientific jargon coming out of his mouth. She probably wouldn't understand it anyway, and even if she did, she didn't exactly care a lot.

It actually reminded her a bit of how Guy would go off like that about fontech, and she realized that it wasn't the only thing that made Cameron similar to Guy.

His eyes were similar too. Uncannily so.

They were almost exactly the same color, and had nearly the same depth as Guy's, but there was one difference Alex noticed every time she looked into Cameron's eyes.

They didn't send shivers down her spine, nor had they ever made her heart skip a beat.

Cameron was nice, and while she had taken into consideration the advice Isabell had given her a couple days previous to not wait around for something that may never happen, she still found that she immensely preferred Guy.

Besides, she had just met Cameron a week ago. She hardly knew anything about him past being into science and anything Jade-centric. And Guy had been so sweet to her over the years, especially with bringing her to Grand Chokmah knowing she wouldn't want to return to Baticul. It would be really poor repayment for all of his kindness to bring Cameron home with her...Not that she even wanted to, but still.

Spending just a few days with Cameron couldn't possibly change her feelings for Guy in such a short amount of time. Cameron was nice...but he just wasn't the same.

But at the same time, she could only wait so long for Guy and his phobia, especially when he hadn't really given her solid evidence that he was interested in her.

He had been acting strange every time Cameron was brought into conversation though, and he had been trying to spend more time with her since she accepted the job, so these factors had caused Alex to believe he could still be interested, even after they had never really talked about their small kiss before the Absorption Gate.

She would have to talk to him about it that night when she saw him. She'd figure things out from there.

"Auldrant to Alex," Cameron said suddenly, waving a hand in front of her face, "Hello?"

"Oh, sorry," Alex blushed, realizing she had been staring at him the entire time, ""W-what were you saying?"

The day went on, and Alex had made some pretty good progress in filing and filling out reports herself. Cameron continued to be kind to her, saying that she would no longer need his help pretty soon, though he said that he wanted to stay in contact with her once they went their separate ways, to which she agreed wholeheartedly.

As the day wore on, Alex finally found a small quirk of Cameron's that she found she didn't like very much.

While they were on their lunch break, an incident with one of the lesser soldiers making a fairly big mistake occurred. Alex felt sorry for the poor guy as one of his superiors yelled at him for his mistake, while she was surprised to hear Cameron laugh at him quietly before making a snide comment about the scene.

As they left the lunch hall to get back to work, and Cameron resumed his usual kind behaviour, Alex was left wondering how he could go from acting so nice to being so rude in a matter of seconds.

Perhaps he had a split personality?

At any rate, as the day wore on, Alex couldn't quash the feeling she had that perhaps all Cameron's kindness was just an act.

But one small incident couldn't be all it took to change her mind about him, it wasn't fair to him.

She had to give him a chance, he had been nice to her so far.

* * *

"So what did you do all day?" Alex asked Guy later that night. After spending the majority of his life with very little spare time, she could imagine him going a little stir crazy with nothing to do for even just one day.

Guy shrugged in response as they continued walking down the street. It had thankfully stopped raining, and somehow the puddles all around the already water-surrounded city and the way they reflected the moonlight made it seem particularly beautiful.

"There wasn't really a lot for me _to_ do," Guy said, "With all the spare time I had, I did a lot of work on some fon machines, and actually made some progress with it. It actually started to work before breaking this time, at least, but you probably don't want to hear about that."

"That's great! But not really, sorry," Alex said nervously, "I would be willing to try and listen while you rambled on about it, if you want? I probably wouldn't be able to add much to the conversation, though."

Guy laughed, "It's alright, but thanks."

"Well, if you ever need anyone to zone out while you go off on a fontech rant, I'm there for you."

"Well, thanks," Guy smiled, "I appreciate it, and I might just have to take you up on that offer some time."

"Great. I...look forward to it?"

Guy laughed again, "So what do you want to do tonight? It's your call."

"...I don't know," Alex had never really thought about it. All she really knew was that she hadn't fully experienced the city yet. "I never thought about it."

Guy nodded, "Okay... I think there's a pool around here somewhere?"

"I don't...actually know how to swim."

"What?" Guy asked, looking at her in shock, "How did I not know that? You were really never taught?"

Alex shrugged, "I guess no one really saw much point in teaching Luke or me how to swim when we never left the manor. And you know how the Duke was with the involvement in his children's lives."

"I guess I'll just have to teach you sometime," Guy said, "Once I'm over this phobia anyway. It doesn't make sense for someone to live in Grand Chokmah and not know how to swim."

"Thanks," Alex said, "How is that going, anyway? Your phobia?"

Guy shrugged, "I'm getting better with it, I'm almost there, but... I don't know. I think I just need something to move the progress along."

"You've obviously gotten a lot better with it since you left Baticul to search for Luke. I don't think you really need to rush it."

"Nah, I'm sick of having it. I spent almost my entire life not knowing where it came from, and now that I do...I just want it gone."

Alex nodded, "I understand."

They never really ended up finding something to do activity-wise, but that was fine with Alex. She was perfectly alright with just having the chance to really spend some time with Guy.

Most of the shops along the streets were closing up, so they decided to just get some dinner instead. As the night wore on, Alex found herself wondering if this was supposed to be a date, but Guy had never said anything to suggest that it was, so she quickly dropped the thought.

During dinner, Alex remembered her little run-in with Asch that morning, and then told Guy about it.

"That's a little strange," Guy said, deep in thought, "All the God-Generals are dead. I don't think it's anything to worry about. We _saw _Sync fall into the core, and there's no way Arietta, Legretta, and Largo could have survived falling into that ravine."

"But what about Dist?" Alex asked him, "I doubt Asch would actually take the time to warn us about something if there wasn't a good reason."

Guy was quiet for a moment, "I'll talk to Emperor Peony and see if I can find anything on Dist. You should tell Jade about this too."

Alex nodded, "I meant to today, but I guess it just slipped my mind. I'll make sure to tell him tomorrow."

* * *

"I can't believe you still have this," Guy laughed, picking Noah up off the desk in her room.

"Of course," she replied simply, carefully taking the stuffed rappig away from him. She had taken good care of it over the years, but it was still old and getting worn. "It was a gift, I'm not about to throw it away..."

"It was a last-minute gift I didn't even put any thought into."

"Doesn't matter."

Guy laughed slightly, "You're so weird sometimes. You'll probably end up being a hoarder."

Alex raised an eyebrow at him, "So you're saying you've thrown out gifts I've gotten you in the past?"

"Of course not-"

"Then why are you making a big deal about me keeping Noah?"

"Okay, I'm sorry," Guy sighed, defeated, "I'll drop it now."

Alex smirked at him as the memory of when he had given Noah to her played in the back of her mind. Then she remembered something, "Oh, that's right!"

Guy looked at her confusedly while he waited for her to continue.

"With all that was happening a couple months ago, we all forgot about your birthday. I feel bad about that."

He smiled slightly, "Don't worry about it, even I forgot about it."

"Are you sure?" Alex asked. Even while they were trying to evacuate Engeve in the _middle of a war_, Guy had remembered her birthday. She felt bad about forgetting his. "I want to make it up to you somehow."

"Really, you don't have to. I don't really like making a big deal about my birthday."

She had noticed that over the years, but he had never explained it, "Why not?"

"The Hod War started on my fifth birthday," he shrugged, "I haven't really been able to associate the date with anything else since."

Oh. That was right.

Open mouth, insert foot.

Now she felt like an idiot. Apparently the look on her face said more than she could at the time, because she really couldn't think of any words to say at that point.

Guy's smile returned as if the conversation had never happened, "It's alright. If it makes you feel any better, then tonight can be how you made it up to me."

Damn him. How did _always_ know the right words to say?

Alex blushed despite herself, moving her gaze from Guy and glaring down at her feet for how stupid she was being. She then remembered that Guy had insisted on paying for everything that night and went to protest before Guy shut her up.

She completely lost the ability to speak as Guy planted a swift kiss on her cheek.

"Um..." she completely forgot what she was going to say as she looked at him in shock. Did that actually just happen? Did _Guy _just kiss her on the cheek? "Wha-?"

"Sorry. I just...wanted to do that."

It took Alex a few seconds to realize that he was just repeating the exact words she had said to him after kissing him before the Absorption Gate.

Smart-ass.

He simply chuckled at the look she was giving him before saying goodnight and leaving her room.

She stood rooted to the spot, still a little in shock over what had just happened.

She'd never really gotten the chance to talk to him about their relationship, but as she touched her fingers to her cheek, she figured he'd unintentionally answered a few of her questions anyway.

...

Guy had decided to go ahead with Peony's suggestion of a psychologist a week previous. He had gone to a couple appointments throughout the week, and already he was stunned at the progress he had made.

So far Dr. Vaccaro had focused mainly on Guy's memories of Mary, up to and including her death, saying something about getting right to the root of the problem.

Guy didn't exactly like how he had phrased that, as all of the memories he had of his sister and family other than the Hod War were ones he cherished, but he'd willingly told Vaccaro everything he asked.

Alex had come up in their sessions a few times as well. After Guy had explained his relationship with her, Vaccaro had labeled her as the 'motivation' to get over the phobia.

So far, Guy didn't know what to think about Vaccaro. He didn't seem like the type of person that people would usually get along with, but Guy figured he wasn't going to the psychologist to make friends, so he put up with all the strange comments and labels the old man made about people.

At the same time, Guy really didn't mind Cameron being labelled as a problem.

Vaccaro had suggested that while Guy wasn't completely over his phobia, he should start doing small things to let Alex know he was still interested in her. He said it may not be a good idea for him to fully admit his feelings for her yet, at least not until he could at least maintain contact with her for more than two seconds.

This advice went directly against Isabell's previous advice for him to 'grow a pair' and tell Alex his feelings, but Guy decided that doing small things to let her know he was interested would probably be better than suddenly blurting out his feelings and catching her completely off guard. He liked to consider this leading up the big reveal, in a way.

But at the same time he just wanted to get everything out in the open before Cameron ruined everything.

Besides, shouldn't it be painfully obvious to Alex by now that he had feelings for her? He thought it was pretty clear, anyway. Especially after last night.

If it wasn't obvious to her before, then any doubts she may have had _should_ have been cleared up when he kissed her on the cheek.

He doubted she was interested in Cameron romantically, but if she was, she would hopefully be less likely to rush into anything with him after last night. But in the end, it was her decision, and he wasn't going to interfere.

That didn't mean he had to like it if she did end up going out with Cameron, though. Especially when something just felt...off about him. Alex clearly didn't see it, but Guy couldn't help but feel there was something weird about him.

Which was why Guy had resolved himself to show at least one of those small signs of affection towards Alex every day, to push himself more into getting over his phobia and getting used to being in contact with her.

That rule he had given himself had been under Dr. Vaccaro's advice, but it was an idea Guy decided was worth trying.

Alex didn't know about the psychologist, either. In fact, Emperor Peony was the only other person to know. He didn't want to tell Alex about Vaccaro quite yet, and besides, it was more fun to shock her with his progress on the old phobia like he had last night. The look on her face had been priceless.

He had quickly looked into Asch's warning when he got to the palace that morning, and found nothing in regards to Dist other than that he was in prison. He would keep an eye on it though, and check for updates constantly. He had a bad feeling about it.

Once Alex told Jade about it though, the Malkuth colonel would most likely be paying special attention to the amount of people guarding Dist's cell.

* * *

The next few days passed, and Guy constantly saw Alex speaking with Cameron or just hanging out with him when he was walking home from the palace, House of Nobles, or the secret appointments with Vaccaro. With every time he saw them together, he wanted to drop the whole plan he had and just tell Alex everything then and there, but he resisted the urge. She didn't look interested in Cameron as anything more than a friend.

He still wanted to ask her out soon though, despite anything Vaccaro told him and not being fully over his phobia. At this point, he was starting to like Isabell's idea more.

It was raining again four days after the night Guy had kissed Alex on the cheek, so he had decided to cut through an alleyway to get home faster, mentally cursing himself for not bringing an umbrella with him that day.

As he turned into the alley, he was met with a rather unpleasant scene. A man and a woman, the woman attempting to push the man away from her. She wasn't in a good position, being backed up against a wall.

As Guy walked closer to them, squinting to see through the darkness and rain, he noticed the man's military uniform and realized it was Cameron. His heart started hammering in his chest as he walked faster toward them, assuming the worst. He still hadn't seen who the woman was.

It didn't look like Cameron was trying to force himself on the woman, but from the comments he was making it sure sounded like he was trying to talk the girl into letting him have his way with her, and he didn't seem to be taking no for an answer.

Cameron only stopped when Guy finally reached them, and pulled Cameron off the girl himself, noting with immense relief that it wasn't Alex.

After Guy looked away from the blonde girl in front of him, it only took a couple seconds for him to realize that Cameron was completely hammered.

He looked pissed at Guy's interference at first, but once Cameron realized who it was, he immediately put on the nice guy act, while stumbling over his words due to his inebriated state.

Guy wasn't buying it, and the look on his face made that clear to Cameron, who eventually gave up on trying to convince Guy that it wasn't what it looked like, and stumbled on home.

"Thank you so much for helping me," the young woman said. Guy was so busy seething about what he had just witnessed that he hardly heard her.

"Huh?" Guy turned his head slowly in her direction, "Oh, you're very welcome. I couldn't just stand there and let that happen."

He hardly registered the fact that the woman was looking at him the same way all the maids back in Baticul had, nor did he actually care. He had more important things to worry about at the moment.

Nonetheless, he offered to walk her home. He couldn't just leave her to walk home alone in the dark after something like that had happened to her.

She eagerly accepted the offer, and he spent most of the short walk to her home ignoring all the woman's attempts to flirt with him.

"Did you know him before that happened?" Guy found himself asking as the woman rambled on about her pet dog...or something, Guy couldn't be bothered to listen to what she was rambling about.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. I really don't understand what just happened," she said thoughtfully, "I met Cameron a month ago, and he always seemed so nice. We became fast friends, and we often spent time together. He invited me out to the bar tonight...and I think you know what happened after that."

Guy nodded, "Was that the first time you saw him drunk?"

"Yes. Why do you need to know?"

"A friend of mine is getting pretty close to him."

"A woman?"

"Yes."

"Ah, I see..." the girl trailed off, "Well you might want to tell her about this."

Guy nodded, and they reached her front door.

"Thank you for walking me home."

"Don't worry about it," Guy smiled, "It was the least I could do."

The woman smiled back, "My name is Claire, by the way. Might I get yours?"

"Guy. Guy Cecil."

After he left Claire's doorstep, he wasted no time in rushing home himself to make sure Alex was there. He was relieved to find her walking down the hallway leading to her room with a book in her hand, though the relief shown on his face had caused some confusion for her.

Guy didn't know whether he should tell Alex what had happened or not. He remembered their argument months ago in Belkend, and how that had resulted in them not speaking to each other for days, but he didn't want Cameron trying anything on her.

Cameron had been obviously drunk though, and he definitely wouldn't be drinking on the job while he was around Alex, so there was a good chance that he wouldn't try anything...hopefully.

Either way, he didn't like that she still had to spend time with him.

He decided he would try to talk to Jade about it in the morning before going to the palace.

* * *

"I can't imagine why her training wouldn't be close to complete anyway," Jade told Guy the next day, "I'll tell Cameron his assistance is no longer needed when they both arrive."

Guy sighed in relief, "Thanks, Jade. I owe you one."

"Not at all. It wouldn't exactly do me any good to have Alex get herself into trouble with that boy. At any rate, I was under the impression I would be recieving help from her. The sooner that starts, the better."

Jade's cooperation lifted a huge weight off of Guy's shoulders. Now that he really knew why Cameron had seemed so off to him, he was glad to know Alex wouldn't be around him as often.

Before he went home, he decided to check into Dist again, what Asch had said nagging at the back of his mind.

_Watch the God-Generals._

Asch had said Generals. Plural. They were all supposed to be dead other than Dist.

Did Asch know something?

* * *

_**A/N: I'm bored, so I'll do some reviewer responses! Yay?**_

_**Invadergirl1998: Thank you! And we'll just see how that goes. ;)**_

_**NinjaLadyHinata: I'm getting a whole series of mental images with you being Jade's psychologist. I feel the need to remind you that I think there's a rule against psychologists going out with their patients... On another note, while I was going on about Jade things in this chapter I had to try SO HARD to not make it sound sexual, and I think I failed miserably. xD**_

_**Yuna-TheAnimeLuver: xD Peony is probably celebrating the success of his plan as I type. And that celebration probably has something to do with rappigs. So many rappigs...**_

_**RisingXxLawliet: Good, I was worried about how I did with him. And you seem to be one of the only people who didn't know about him previously who tuned in on Cameron's sketchiness, so...virtual cookie? I mostly intend to treat Alex working for Jade as multiple trolling opportunities on his part.**_

_**RubyMoonz: Still got that crush on Cameron after this chapter? -hides-**_

_**MOVING ON!**_

_**The new clothes Guy was wearing in this chapter was a fail attempt at me describing what he wore at the anime cut-scene at the very end of the game after the credits. Hope I didn't suck too much at explaining it. xD**_

_**Please review! I'd really appreciate it!**_


	45. Cantabile

_**A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews! They really managed to cheer me up during a more than stressful day at work. So my coworkers (who get scared of me when I'm bitchy) and I thank you guys for that. xD  
**_

* * *

_Chapter 45: Cantabile  
_

"A new weapon?"

Isabell nodded slowly, "Yes. Now that we know you'll be able to control the Third Fonon, I figure there are a lot more weapons that would be better suited for manipulating wind than an average sword. But before we get into that, I need to know if you would be okay with learning how to handle a new weapon. You _would _be able to go on with the sword you have now, but you would have a bit of a harder time, and less...creative license with what you could do with the fonon."

Alex shrugged, "I'm okay with a different weapon. I never exactly wanted to learn how to wield a sword in the first place. It was that or nothing when I was living in the manor."

Isabell smiled. She was hoping Alex would react like that. Now that she thought about it, Alex did mention that she had difficulty getting the Duke to allow her to train, but then never gave her the option to choose a weapon. But up until then she had managed to take one of Luke's practice swords and train by herself or with Pere, so it didn't make much of a difference by then anyway.

They were training inside Theor Forest today, as it was much more peaceful in the clearings there. They would be able to train without much difficulty there, as the monsters weren't plentiful due to the soldiers and their watch dogs stationed throughout.

"Excellent," Isabell told her, "That makes this easier. Are there any weapons you would have liked to learn to wield over a sword?"

Alex thought about it for a moment, "Well...Over the course of our journey we saw all kinds of weapons. I once fought a bandit who used two short blades to battle. Each of the blades were different in style, too. I think something like that might be kind of easy to get used to."

"Dual short blades, huh?" Isabell brought her hand up to her chin, thinking about it, "That would make wind manipulation a lot more effective in battle. Not to mention they would be similar enough of a weapon that you wouldn't have to change your style too much."

"So that's figured out, then?" Alex asked.

"Yeah," Isabell nodded, "I'll pick up something for you when I go to St. Binah tomorrow. We'll have to spar a little when I come back so you can get used to them." When Isabell saw the worried look on Alex's face, she continued with a laugh, "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you!"

Alex relaxed a little after she said that, "Good, I wouldn't stand a chance otherwise, especially with a new weapon."

"I've been training longer than you," Isabell shrugged, "You'll get to be as strong as I am someday too."

Alex nodded slowly, "Speaking of training...are we going to be doing any of that today?"

Isabell nodded, and instructed Alex to continue to try and bring the Third Fonon into her body and control it. She was supposed to have been practising since their last training session, but Isabell wasn't sure if she had really been doing so. Isabell noticed that Alex didn't seem to have made a lot of progress as she watched her younger sister, but after hearing from Jade earlier that morning about what had been going over the last week or so, Isabell really wasn't surprised Alex had neglected her training.

That didn't make her any less irritated by the lack of progress though.

Hadn't she specifically told Alex at the end of their last session _not _to get herself into any drama? She had to admit she sort of saw this one coming during her last visit when she spoke to Alex about her new job, and then later to Guy about Cameron.

She also wasn't exactly surprised by the information Jade had given her about what Guy had witnessed with Cameron. But that was possibly due to how Cantabile had taught her to _always_ expect the worst from people.

_"Trust no one but yourself, the maggots inhabiting this world aren't worth any heartbreak or sadness. Any pathetic and unnecessary drama could easily lead to your death if you aren't careful."_

In the beginning, Isabell desperately clung to those words. Cantabile was the only person back then she thought worth listening to, other than Van, and she took every word of the older, bitter woman to heart.

Isabell still remembered clearly the day Van had brought her to Daath, and introduced her to her mentor. Meeting Cantabile for the first time had scared her more than living alone on the streets in Chesedonia.

Even before Van introduced Isabell to Cantabile upon entering the Oracle Knights, the loss of her family and everything she knew during the Hod War, accompanied with the few years spent around Chesedonia being forced to steal for food, and live without shelter, had hardened her heart considerably.

She never spoke to anybody unless it was a smart remark, all the merchants in the bazaar treated her horribly, as they only saw her as one of the damn brats stealing their goods, and she was having a horrible time adjusting to the sudden change in living standards.

Over the years spent in Chesedonia, followed immediately by the few years spent in Cantabile's presence, she went from the happy, rambunctious girl from Hod, to the silent, never-smiling, girl prone to violent outbursts often ending in self-harm. She lost the will to care about anything or anyone.

Not even herself.

She went from being the polite girl that would never hurt anyone on purpose, to the girl that never wasted the chance to throw an insult at someone, reason or no, and got a twisted sense of pleasure whenever she saw that her harsh words had hit home.

Isabell had been, for lack of a better word, a bitch.

Everything changed when Van found her.

Slightly anyway. As it turned out, Cantabile ended up shaping her into even more of a bitch, it wasn't until she met Morgan that she made a change for the better.

* * *

_Isabell sat in her usual spot against a wall in an alleyway, far off from the noisy bazaar in Chesedonia. She could still hear the sounds of happy shoppers, no matter how far away she was from them. She tried to block them out, she hated to hear them all so happy and care-free while she was hungry and miserable, but to no avail. She glared down at the sandy ground as she hugged her knees to her chest, people passing her by without even glancing at her. They were all so used to her presence there after the years that they no longer cared.  
_

_"Isabell?" _

_Isabell was so shocked by the use of her name, she was more used to being referred to as 'girl' or 'brat', that her head shot straight up in the direction of the man who had called her name. He had changed a lot over the years, but she could still recognize him despite the Oracle Knight uniform, and the facial hair he certainly didn't have at the age of eleven. She narrowed her eyes, was it really him?  
_

_"Vandesdelca?" she asked, her eyes widening.  
_

_He nodded as he approached her, "I go by Van Grants, now. I'm happy to see you're alive."  
_

_"You too," Isabell replied, looking up at him.  
_

_"I certainly didn't expect to find you here."  
_

_"What are you doing here?" Isabell asked, getting up from her spot.  
_

_"I'm on my way back from the Duke's manor in Baticul," he explained, "I'll be training his son in the Albert Style soon. At first I wasn't too eager to spend time there, but after coming across three people I never thought I'd see there, I've changed my mind."_

_"Who are these three people?" Isabell asked, as Van gestured for her to follow him to the bazaar.  
_

_"You remember Pere?"  
_

_"One of the Knights protecting House Gardios? Yeah, I remember him."  
_

_Van nodded and spoke quietly so only she could hear him. Under the cover of the busy bazaar, where other people were loudly shopping for goods she was certain they wouldn't be overheard anyway. "He entered the manor with plans of revenge...Gailardia Galan Gardios with him."  
_

_Isabell's eyes widened, "No way. He's alive?" She thought of her best friend back on Hod, Mary, and felt happiness for her deceased friend in the fact that her brother had survived the attack.  
_

_"Yes, as is Alexandra-"  
_

_Suddenly she no longer cared about Pere and Gailardia still being alive. She was only focused on the mention of her sister's name. "She's alive?" she could only manage it in a hoarse whisper, as her heart pounded in her chest. Any good news she could receive after that would pale in comparison._

_Van smiled at her, "Yes. From what I can tell, she has no memory of her life on Hod, but she's alive."  
_

_Isabell smiled back. For the first time in so long, she was happy. She didn't feel depression or despair overwhelming her anymore in that moment. Her sister was alive somewhere!  
_

_But that smile soon turned back into a frown, "No memory? Wait, what's she doing in Baticul? Did Pere and Gailardia take her there?"  
_

_Van's smile disappeared as well as he purchased some proper clothes for Isabell to wear from a merchant. The woman didn't look impressed at the site of Isabell, as she had been known to all of the merchants as a no good thief. The plump woman was no doubt wondering what an Oracle Knight was doing with the dirt-covered girl dressed in rags.  
_

_"Not exactly," Van answered Isabell's question as he handed the Chesedonian garb to her. "She is currently living as Alexandra Fon Fabre."  
_

_Isabell froze as she accepted the clothes from him, "What?"  
_

_"Are you hungry?" Van asked in an attempt to change the subject, Isabell was having none of it, despite her stomach telling her to tell him she was starving.  
_

_"You mean to tell me he actually _adopted her_?" she asked incredulously, not believing what she was hearing, "After _leading_ the attack on Hod? What point is there in that?"_

_"Your guess is as good as mine," Van replied, going ahead and buying some food for Isabell despite how she hadn't replied to his question. While there was a lot going on in Isabell's mind in that moment, she was still immensely grateful for his kindness. "But she's alive because he chose to take her in."  
_

_Isabell didn't reply to that. He was right. She still hated the Duke for the attack on Hod in the first place, but for whatever reason, he had chosen to spare Alexandra. For that...she was grateful, however bitterly. She murmured a word of thanks as she accepted a rather large apple from Van and took a bite out of it, savoring its flavor.  
_

_"Will you be joining me in Daath?" Van asked, out of nowhere.  
_

_"Huh?" Isabell asked, her mouth still full of apple. She was completely taken off guard by this question.  
_

_Van smiled again, "If you come with me, I could get you a place in the Oracle Knights. With that position would come a room for you to stay in, and a small salary. It would surely be much better than living on the streets here in the desert."  
_

_Isabell felt elated at his words, "You would really do that for me?"  
_

_"I would feel horrible just leaving you here when I could have helped you."  
_

_Isabell suppressed the urge to cry, she was so unused to anyone showing her any form of kindness, and then Van swooped in and completely overloaded her with it. This was all too much. _

_"Thank you."_

* * *

_When Van started speaking of his job in the Oracle Knights after they had boarded the ferry heading to Daath, Isabell found it strange to think about the fact that he was a year younger than her.  
_

_He was eighteen and held a fair amount of power in the Oracle Knights, while Isabell was a year older than him and was nothing._

_She was thankful for him finding her and bringing her to Daath with him, but when he had told her he wanted her to become a soldier in the Oracle Knights and rise up the ranks so she could help him with his goals for revenge for their homeland, she was a little skeptical about it. She hadn't even had any training, military or otherwise. She couldn't handle a weapon if her life depended on it._

_Sure, she had to learn how to fight a bit while living on the streets, but she couldn't handle a sword like Van could._

_"I have someone in mind to train you," he explained thoughtfully, "I would like her to train my sister years from now when she joins the Oracle Knights. I'd like to see how she would go about training, this is the perfect opportunity."  
_

_Isabell knitted her eyebrow together in thought, "You have a sister?"  
_

_Van nodded, "She was born shortly after Hod's destruction."  
_

_"Oh, that's right. I forgot your mother was pregnant before the war. Is she alive too?"  
_

_His silence was all the answer she needed, and an awkward silence filled the cabin.  
_

_"So what's this woman like?" Isabell asked, mostly to change the awkward subject.  
_

_"She's strong-willed, and will likely be very hard on you, but I have faith that she can shape you into an admirable soldier. I'm sure one day you will be able to join the small group of people I have my eyes on to form my own group of elite soldiers to lead the Oracle Knights. When that happens, they'll all be like putty in my hands."  
_

_"How on Auldrant are you going to convince the Maestros to allow that?" Isabell asked. She still felt strange about talking so much when while living in Chesedonia she hardly spoke at all. It was a miracle she even had that much of a vocabulary. For the first time in years she was speaking normally to a person, and though it felt foreign on her tongue to speak so much and so nicely, she was relieved to finally have some ounce of normalcy in her life again. And so happy to speak to an old friend from Hod, who went through the same war and loss she went through.  
_

_"I have Fon Master Evenos on my side," he explained, "The Maestros will be convinced soon enough. It's only a matter of time."  
_

_"Even if they do allow this group to exist, who else is going to be a part of it?"  
_

_He'd heard stories of certain people around Auldrant who were just as screwed over by the Score as they had been, so he had his eyes on them: the Black Lion of the Desert, who he'd heard had his newborn child taken away from him, and was forced to leave his life in Kimlasca after killing a Kimlascan soldier in attempts to get his daughter back. He was a wanderer, and once Van found his whereabouts, he could easily be persuaded to join the Knights._

_"How do you expect to find him?" Isabell asked, "The desert isn't a place you want to linger in if you don't have experience there. You could easily die searching for this man, is that man really someone worth all that trouble? You don't even know he'll co-operate."  
_

_"Oh, he is very worth the trouble," Van replied knowingly, "And I have no doubts I can get him to join. That is, if I find him. I was originally stopping in Chesedonia to search for him before heading back to Daath. I found you instead, as a pleasant surprise."  
_

_Another was a girl he'd heard about. Her home was ruined and her family killed by a flood caused by the destruction of Hod. She was found by a liger and taken to be raised by a pack of them in the woods. She had the ability to employ and speak to monsters; an ability Van wanted to take advantage of. They were going to need new Fon Master Guardians soon anyway, as Evenos was ill and was soon to be succeeded by a young boy, Ion, who looked to be a bit frail himself. Apparently Van had already spoken to the boy about the girl, and he was fascinated enough to want to take part in finding this girl and teaching her how to act like a human. She would become a Fon Master Guardian, and then things would go from there._

_"You're going to kidnap her? You can't actually expect her to go along with what you tell her to if she can't even understand you!"  
_

_"Her ability is one I cannot pass up on, Isabell."  
_

_Isabell dropped it, not wanting to argue with him.  
_

_Yet another was Dr. Saphir Ortion Gneiss, whose brilliance with technologies such as Fomicry Van had many plans for. In fact, without Gneiss' help, none of Van's plans for the Score could come to fruition. It was of the utmost importance that the man be convinced to join, but Van had the perfect bait to get him to join. He planned to find him and put it into action only a few short weeks later. _

_"You are also someone I want to join our ranks," he had told her.  
_

_"Why me?" Isabell asked him, "I have no experience, I can't fight. I would be useless to you."  
_

_He shook his head, "I cannot exclude you now that I know you're still alive. I would never force you to join me, but you have every right to play a part in my plan should you choose to. If you train hard enough, that is."  
_

_"Is there anyone else?" Isabell asked, wanting to temporarily change the subject from her.  
_

_"I only have my eye on one more for the time being."  
_

_"And?"  
_

_"She happens to be the woman I want to train you."  
_

_"So she's already in the Oracle Knights?" Isabell asked, "That makes things easier for you, I guess."  
_

_"It certainly does. She happens to be a survivor of Hod as well. She's quite stubborn, so I believe convincing her to take you on will be a difficult task."  
_

_"So you want me to behave myself, then?"  
_

_Van smiled, "It would certainly make things go more in our favor."  
_

_Isabell excused herself to take the first shower she'd had in years, feeling pure bliss as the hot water washed all the dirt and grime from her body and hair. She figured she should at least look presentable for this woman when they reached Daath._

* * *

_The woman narrowed the one eye not covered by an eye-patch as she looked over Isabell._

_"I suppose you couldn't get your hands on any scissors while living on the streets?"_

_Isabell was taken aback by the older woman's remark. She'd gotten used to not being greeted properly by anyone after spending seven years on the streets in Chesedonia, but this was the strangest 'greeting' she'd ever had. "Ma'am?"_

_"Your hair's too long. It'll be a burden in training. It's not my business if you're prepared to lose your life for vanity in a real battle, but if you you want to take this seriously, cut it." _

_Isabell looked closely at Cantabile's own short, raven hair, while biting back a smart remark. She had promised Van she would do her best to behave while in Cantabile's presence, and after he had saved her, she owed him that much._

_"You want me to cut my hair?" she asked apprehensively, running a hand through the length of it. Her hair was really the only thing she had to remind her of her mother, and the days before the Hod War. She didn't want to cut it if she could help it._

_Cantabile didn't answer her, and instead started walking circles around her, her cold gaze penetrating Isabell as she examined her. Isabell stood stock-still the entire time, her arms pinned to her sides. Immediately she knew this was not a woman to anger. _

_After all those years in Chesedonia, Isabell had been hardened into a person who could care less what others thought of her, as most people in that city thought of her as nothing more than a burden who stole all their goods anyway. She didn't care at all about authority. Not even the occasional night in jail changed that. It wasn't as if she minded spending some nights in jail anyway, at least there she had a bed to sleep on._

_But somehow this woman she had never met before had managed to get her to hold her tongue without even trying. This woman had been able to do the one thing no one in Chesedonia had been able to. She managed to scare Isabell a little bit, enough into actually taking her harsh words into consideration. And she had done it without even trying._

_Isabell looked to Van, silently asking what she was meant to do in this situation. He merely nodded at her as he watched the scene play out. He wasn't the Commandant at this point, but after spending the last few years with connections in Yulia City and being a great member of the Knights, it was easy to say he had already gained quite a bit of power._

_"I won't be going easy on you just because you're from Hod."_

_Isabell merely looked up into Cantabile's face, not really knowing what she could say in response. Van seemed to be pleased by these words, however, so she assumed this was a good thing._

_At the very least, Cantabile had somehow been convinced to take Isabell on as an apprentice._

_She didn't know whether to be terrified or happy, but she was leaning more toward the former._

_She didn't think things would go over well if she showed up the next day with her waist-long hair after the woman had told her to cut it. Despite how Van told her it wasn't necessary if she didn't want to do it, and she could just put it up, Isabell felt she needed to listen to whatever Cantabile told her. She didn't want the woman giving her a harder time than she undoubtedly already would._

_That night, when Van took her to her new quarters in the cathedral, she pushed back all the memories of her and her mother brushing and braiding each others hair in the mornings and she took a pair of scissors to her long locks that night. The back of her hair was only about an inch long once she was done with it, and she only trimmed her bangs to make them look more presentable. Living on the streets, she didn't exactly have time to worry about her appearance._

_She was upset when she looked in the mirror and saw someone now unrecognizable. She had to remind herself that it was for the best, and tried to tell herself that she had looked too similar to her mother with her long hair. The constant reminder of her mother would probably be hell for her emotionally, and Cantabile had already made a point in telling her that emotions were nothing but a hazard in the military; they were for the weak._

_As Van was busy with his own duties, he had no time to spend with her. Still, she would never forget what he had done for her, and she would do her best to make sure his dream was realized. To do that, she would train under Cantabile to become a God-General when the time came.  
_

_From then on, when Cantabile spoke, Isabell listened._

_When Cantabile told her it would benefit her greatly in the end not to get close to others, Isabell constructed a barrier around herself and let no one through. She focused solely on her training instead._

_When Cantabile told her someone was a maggot, Isabell thought the same, without even getting to know them._

_When Cantabile told her to lock her emotions away, she did it without question. At one point she couldn't even remember what it felt like to smile or laugh.  
_

_After the first few months of this, Isabell's only goal other than the ones to fulfill Van's wishes and see Alexandra again, was to somehow impress Cantabile, however impossible it seemed._

* * *

Looking back on it, it was safe to say she and Cantabile didn't have the healthiest of relationships. The older woman never had anything nice to say to anybody, and Isabell was no exception. She always had something to complain about with how Isabell would act, or how she was being clumsy in training, how pathetic her fear of fire was, no matter the reasoning for it. Her appearance, and how she didn't have the proper mentality of a soldier...the list went on and on.

But Isabell had no one else to look up to, no one else in her life. That was mostly due to Cantabile's advice to stay as far away from friendships and the like as possible, but in the end Isabell was left desperately struggling to gain Cantabile's approval...

In those days, the only thing Isabell had to look forward to other than the possibility of seeing Alex again, was the day Cantabile might actually look her in the eye and praise her for something.

It never happened.

After two years of Isabell trying to gain the older woman's approval, she started to get sick of it. She became more bitter than she already had been, and didn't give a damn about anything. By then she had dug herself into such an enormous hole that none of the other knights even wanted to talk to her, let alone get close to her. The unpleasant scowl never missing from her face only distanced herself further from the others.

Not that she had cared, they were all pathetic anyway. She didn't need them, and they'd all die on missions at any rate. They weren't worth letting her guard down for.

Or so Cantabile had taught her.

It was both a good and a bad thing Alex never had a Cantabile in her life as she grew up. Despite what she had learned about herself, and what she went through over the course of her journey, Alex was still young and happy. She still had her whole life ahead of her. She had friends, that after traveling for months together were more like a family than anything else.

Isabell was all alone. All she had was Alex, and she only saw her a couple times a week, sometimes less.

Isabell had missed out on most of her youth. If it weren't for Morgan, she would probably still be the mindless puppet Cantabile had made her.

She was glad Cantabile never had the opportunity to give Alex the same treatment. And though it was less than pleasant for her to have to have grown up in the home of the man who led the attack on Hod, it was a better environment for her to grow up in.

At least she had Guy, Luke, and Natalia there. They had managed to do their part in shaping her into the person she was today. The others in their group did too, as according to Guy Alex had grown up a lot over their months traveling around Auldrant. They all had taken part in making Alex the person she was, and in Isabell's opinion, she had become a much better person than she was at her age. Hell, she was a much better person than Isabell even now.

But clearly being locked up in a manor all her life had been a leading factor in how naive Alex was.

Isabell wasn't surprised to find out that Cameron turned out to be a sleazebag, even after never meeting the guy, but Alex was clearly clueless.

Spending everyday with the same people the Duke and his wife had no doubt hand-picked, without knowing what the people in the outside world could be like, had landed Alex in this predicament. Isabell worried for her, as both Jade and Guy had mentioned how close she was getting to Cameron.

Isabell wouldn't hesitate to beat the creep into a bloody pulp if he so much as put a hand on her sister, but she was worried Alex would be too hesitant to do the same when she thought of him as a friend.

It was strange, actually. The situation Alex was in happened to be somewhat similar to the event that led to Isabell and Morgan meeting, and consequently managed to change her life for the better.

Morgan had somehow managed to change her into a better person, without her even realizing as the change was happening.

Thinking back on it, Isabell was honestly surprised he was even willing to try getting to know her after some of the things she had said to him. Especially considering how they had met.

She had said all kinds of nasty things to him in the beginning, and all he had to return with were the kindest words anybody had spoken to her in ages.

_"You'd be a lot prettier if you smiled, you know."_

"Bell? Are you alright?"

Isabell finally snapped out of her thoughts as Alex waved a hand in front of her.

"You space out a lot," Alex said simply.

Isabell laughed, "Sorry."

"You missed it!" Alex told her, hands on her hips, "I was actually gaining control of the Third Fonon there for a while! I lost control before you could come back down to Auldrant, though."

Isabell apologized again before ending their session.

"What were you thinking about?" Alex asked her.

"Oh, nothing," she smiled slightly as she led Alex away from the forest clearing, "Just thinking about the past."

...

Jade honestly wasn't all too surprised to hear about what Guy had seen occur with Cameron. Then again, it wasn't as if he cared all that much either, as long as Alex hadn't managed to get herself into trouble with him. He didn't want or need to deal with her getting hurt - when he accepted Peony's idea to have her help him out, he wasn't expecting any drama to come with it.

No, Alex spending anymore time with that man would only complicate matters further. He doubted she really need Cameron's help anymore at any rate.

A couple days previous, after Guy had first told him about what he had witnessed, Jade waited for Cameron and Alex to arrive. Once they did, he entered the office of Cameron's superior and told him that his help was no longer necessary, thanking him for his efforts. He left with Alex immediately, and couldn't help but notice that the small smile Cameron wore as he waved goodbye to Alex was obviously forced.

He kept an eye on the brown-haired man whenever he saw him in Alex's company over the course of the next couple days. Alex certainly didn't look interested in him romantically - in fact she seemed rather oblivious to his flirting - but that didn't appear to stop Cameron from trying.

Jade wasn't honestly sure why he was paying such close attention to this. Surely he had better things to do?

The Malkuth colonel sighed and rubbed his temples as he and Alex continued through his enormous pile of paperwork, the last thing he wanted to be doing in the little spare time he had was spy on Cameron and Alex. He blamed Peony for choosing the man she would be trained by. He doubted Cameron being the type of person he was was planned by the Emperor, but he did have a feeling he hired him in hopes of getting Guy to ask Alex out sooner.

Honestly, as an emperor, Peony had much more important things to be doing than playing cupid. This was ridiculous, he should have just left those two to figure things out for themselves. But of course he just had to meddle, and now Jade was thrown in the middle of it, when he was already ludicrously busy and exhausted.

All this drama was really starting to annoy Jade. He was getting too old for this.

"Something wrong, Colonel?"

"Not at all," Jade replied to Alex as he picked up his abandoned pen and went back to work.

The only upside to this was the fact that the pile of paperwork had already grown much smaller since Alex finally joined him in his office. The days weren't exactly eventful, and he could tell that Alex was usually bored, which happened to defeat the purpose of her accepting the job in the first place, but he was happy to finally make some progress.

"Are you sure you're alright? You look really stressed out," she paused, "Am I not doing a good job? I would be more likely to improve if you told me where I was making mistakes."

"It's nothing you should be worrying about. You aren't making any mistakes as far as I can tell."

"Alright..." she said slowly, "Then do you need a hug? You look like you could use a hug."

Jade stopped what he was doing and looked over at her. She had a mostly innocent look on her face, but there was no missing the tiniest of smirks on her face.

"No, I most certainly do not 'need a hug'."

"Aw, come on, Colonel, everyone needs a hug sometimes. Even you, you just don't want to admit it."

"I beg to differ."

Alex thought for a few moments, "I bet, by the end of the year, that I'll be able to get you to accept a hug from me."

Jade laughed, he highly doubted that, "And what are you willing to wager?"

Alex shrugged, "I don't know. What do you think?"

Jade thought about it for a moment, "I'll have to get back to you on that. However, most of my thoughts seem to include Emperor Peony and his rappigs. I almost think spending a day with only them in your company would be too cruel."

Almost.

Her eyes widened slightly for a moment before returning to normal, "Fine."

"And if, by some miracle, you happen to win this bet?"

Alex laughed, "I don't need anything. I think just being able to say 'I got Jade 'The Necromancer' Curtiss to accept a hug from me' will be plenty."

Jade sighed, "And I've worked so hard to create my reputation as a cynical old man. People tend to be too scared of me to even approach me, I can't afford to have you ruin that."

"Yulia forbid you actually start to develop a social life and make friends," Alex rolled her eyes.

"I happen to have more than enough friends."

"You have friends outside of Emperor Peony?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. As it so happens, one of them seems to have this ludicrous idea that she would be able to get me to hug her."

Alex was quiet, "I didn't think you actually thought of us as friends. I always figured we were just your temporary travel companions."

"I suppose I can see why you're so shocked by this," Jade sighed.

"No kidding. No one can ever tell what you're thinking, and really the only emotion we ever saw from you was sarcasm, which you have officially made into an emotion in my mind."

Jade smirked slightly at the comment.

"So who's your favorite then? Anise? Or is it me? It's me, right?"

"I believe you might be getting a little carried away."

"Aw, admit it. You like me, Colonel. We've always had a special connection. Probably because of our mutual love for sarcasm, but it still counts."

Jade was growing tired of this particular topic, "I'm not so sure Guy would really enjoy the majority of this conversation."

Alex waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, don't worry about him. I like Guy and all, he's really nice and everything, but the one I really have feelings for is you, Colonel," she said with a surprisingly straight face, "But I could never admit my true feelings in front of the others. They would all think badly of it, and they were all under the impression that Guy and I had feelings for each other, so it was the perfect cover-up."

Jade knew she was joking, but the conversation was still one he wanted to end immediately. It was almost as if Alex had suddenly been replaced by Isabell, whose comments he had grown used to by now, seeing as he saw her a lot more often when she was in town to see Alex, and she had made at least one similar comment in attempts to bug him every time they saw each other.

He wasn't particularly close to Isabell, so the occasional banter of that kind he had with her was something he had been able to grow accustomed to. But not with Alex, who he had spent the last few months getting to know. He had actually grown fond of her company over the months, and knew she developed a particular fondness for trying to get on his nerves, something he usually found entertaining, as it normally backfired on her.

But not this time.

Usually by now he would have made a clever comment that would shut Alex up, but he couldn't play any part in this conversation without it feeling terribly wrong.

If her aim was to make him feel uncomfortable, it was working.

"This is extremely disturbing," Jade finally said, cutting across Alex mid-sentence, "Please stop."

"Is that really how you respond when a girl confesses her feelings?" Alex asked in a mock-hurt tone, "No wonder you don't have a girlfriend."

He didn't respond.

Alex merely laughed at him, and proceeded to make a comment about the look on his face. He wasn't sure if she had been spending too much time with Isabell lately, or if Emperor Peony had decided to teach her a thing or two about getting on his nerves. Either way, bugging him had finally worked for her without it backfiring.

For now.

She may have won this round, but she would one day regret this conversation. Even if he never wanted to bring it up again.

* * *

The end of the day came, and somehow they had managed to actually finish all of Jade's paperwork. He was thankful he was finally caught up.

Cameron showed up outside Jade's office once the shift was over and invited her out for dinner. Without even thinking about it, Jade intervened before Alex could reply, making an excuse about how he had intended to take her out to celebrate getting all the paperwork finished.

Of course, that happened to be a lie, but no one needed to know that. Nevertheless, he understood why Alex was suspicious about his sudden invite.

Cameron left with an unattractive scowl on his face, suddenly he didn't seem to be such a big fan of Jade's, as Alex and Jade left his office, her suspicion didn't subside.

Jade couldn't honestly blame her for her suspicion, since he wasn't exactly one to extend casual invitations for any reason.

Within moments, Jade found himself being asked the one question he was hoping to avoid at all costs.

"Did Guy ask you to do that?"

Jade started thinking of a response, but apparently took too long.

"He did, didn't he?" Alex narrowed her eyes at Jade, looking furious, "Don't lie to me. He's been acting weird every time he's around Cameron, or whenever he's brought up in conversation. Did he ask you to stop me from hanging out with him?"

Jade sighed, he really saw no point in continuing a lie that made no sense to him anyway. She had the right to know about the situation, especially since she could end up getting hurt if she didn't know, and the sooner Alex and Guy had their feelings sorted out, the less drama there would be, and that was good for him.

His silence was good enough for her, and before Jade had the chance to explain to her what Guy saw between Cameron and some other woman, she had stormed off.

She was most likely under the impression that Guy was only playing some kind of jealous, childish game. Jealousy may have had something to do with why Guy didn't want her around Cameron, but it certainly wasn't the main reason.

Jade thought about how infuriated Alex looked, and how Guy was most likely at their home, completely clueless about what was to come.

Well...This could be a problem._  
_

Jade wasn't normally one for religion, but he thanked Yulia he wasn't Guy.

* * *

_**A/N: I did a bit of playing around with how the God-Generals were formed and all that. It's not really meant to be accurate to any timeline from the game and i haven't seen the anime in years, I just thought it would be more interesting to do it this way. Also note that during the first flashback, it was about a year before Luke was created and Asch was forced to go to Daath, and therefore before Sync and the current Fon Master Ion existed as well. I tried to do all the math in my head, and decided that back then the original Ion was still just a young boy, so it should have been shortly before Evenos died.**_


	46. Struggles

_**A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews. :3 I really appreciate them. And also a thank you to those who have favorited/followed this story. It would mean the world to me if you took a moment to review. :)**_

_**Note that I do not own Reyna Milas, who is mentioned in this chapter. She belongs to RubyMoonz, from her story Different Paths. Have I mentioned you should go read it? It's very good, and Alex makes a few appearances. :3**_

* * *

_Chapter 46: Struggles _

Things had been busy in Daath since Van was defeated and the lands were lowered. There was a surplus of people coming to the cathedral to request reading for the Score, despite the fact that they had been trying to steer away from it.

People from all over the world were desperate for any kind on information on what had been going on, and when they were refused Score readings, it led to uproars and even small riots in some cases.

They were right back where they started. If it weren't for King Ingobert and Emperor Peony and their support for living without the Score, Anise was sure they would have had a war on their hands. Both countries were doing their best to control their citizens and explain that they were no longer to follow the Score, but it proved to be too difficult and terrifying a thing for most to even think about.

Anise couldn't say she blamed them, even the thought of her annual Score reading on her birthday no longer happening was weird for her. The Score was a form of comfort for most. If they weren't sure what to do, they would simply go to a Scorer for answers.

Now that they could no longer do that, everyone was lost. They didn't know what to do with themselves.

Maybe they wouldn't have taken it so badly if they had slowly abolished the Score while giving the citizens of Auldrant plenty of warning and time to adjust to making their own decisions, but instead it was taken away all at once, and it left everyone confused and unsure of what to do with their lives.

Some people hadn't taken it so bad. The ones who hardly ever had the Score read to them except for on their birthdays didn't seem to care that much, they were happy to make their own decisions. They were only concerned now because of all the people around them complaining and rioting.

It was the people who consulted the Score constantly who complained the most. The worst cases were now scared because they didn't know where they should go for dinner. What if they got food poisoning because the Score couldn't tell them to prepare their own food?

Those people Anise thought were overreacting and annoying. But she did understand how it was all so sudden.

Her mind was on other problems anyway. Things were hectic inside the cathedral from the second she got home, and she had no time to relax before being thrown into the mix.

With Mohs being in jail until his hearing, the Commandant's death, and the God-Generals being no more, everyone was busy with trying to rebuild the Order to its former glory. They were still recruiting more and more knights, as about half the population of knights in headquarters had joined Van before his death.

Anise so wanted to accept Alex's invitation to go to Grand Chokmah, but she knew she couldn't.

After Ion announced that the Score would no longer be read, Tritheim started to grow paranoid that the Fon Master could become a public enemy and therefore more likely to be attacked while out on a walk. Because of that, they were now taking on plenty more Fon Master Guardians, and as Anise was easily the most well-known of them all, as she had regained her position as a Guardian after she returned to Daath, she was in charge of helping the commander of the Fon Master Guardians, Reyna Milas, as she trained the new recruits.

The stress of the situation seemed to be getting to the violet haired woman as well - at least Anise didn't remember her being this hard on the group of recruits Anise was in when she first joined. But then again, most of the new recruits didn't seem like they wanted to be there, so Reyna had to be a bit harder on them than usual, and Anise did her best to help her out.

But it was hard for her to focus on the task at hand sometimes.

She felt safer since Mohs was taken away from Daath, but she knew it wasn't the end of him. There were still people in the Order that supported him, and she knew that some of his closer companions were aware of what his plans for Ion were.

She'd been pulled aside by these people on several occasions and reminded of what these plans were, so she knew it wasn't over yet. Her family and Ion were still in danger. According to what the few soldiers were saying, Dist was planning an escape during the time Mohs would be brought to his hearing, and then would attack the boat carrying him.

Anise wanted desperately to somehow prevent it from happening. But she knew now that since she was told of the plan, if she told someone else, like the Colonel, who would prevent it for her, it would only end in her parents' possible deaths.

Everyone knew she was close to Jade Curtiss, as well as the five others she had traveled with to lower the Outer Lands. If any of them found out, it would be because of her. She couldn't risk it.

She didn't want to go along with the plan anymore - she never wanted to go along with it in the first place. She didn't want Ion to get hurt because of her, she'd grown to really like him, and he was so believing of her all the time. She hated lying to him, and she only felt worse about it after finding out he was a replica, and only two years old. He was so innocent in all of this, and so naive...he was a fool to have so much trust in Anise.

As were the others. They were all too trusting, even the Colonel had started growing soft later on in their journey. She constantly tried to remind them not to trust others so easily, Spinoza in particular, but they never listened to her. She tried to clue them in on the situation on occasion without actually telling them, and they never picked up on it. She was left all alone to try and figure this out.

Anise found herself wracking her brain constantly, every day for something, anything, that would help prevent Mohs from escaping and avoid Ion's demise.

She came up with nothing.

...

Luke was getting more and more bored with every passing day since he returned to the manor from the Absorption Gate. He couldn't go back to the way things were before he and Tear disappeared to Tataroo Valley all those months ago. It just wasn't possible.

On top of his boredom, he felt unnatural about being there.

Asch should be there, not him.

This wasn't his home...where was his home, anyway?

Maybe he should have done what Guy and Alex did and find somewhere else to live. He definitely didn't feel like he belonged in the manor, that was for sure. He'd walk down the hallways and be faced with all the stares and whispers of the maids.

_"There's the replica."_

_"Why did he have to come back?"_

_"I hope he doesn't start going wild or anything..."_

He tried his hardest to block these comments out as he walked past them each day. Of course there were also maids and White Knights who supported him being there, but somehow they didn't make him feel any less awkward spending his time there.

It would be easier to not feel depressed and alone if he had more familiar faces there with him, but Alex and Guy had both gone to Grand Chokmah. It wasn't like he was angry at them for leaving him there or if he resented them, he understood completely why they left, and supported them. But he still felt a sense of abandonment by his group nonetheless.

Besides Alex, none of them had written them any letters! Of course, he didn't need one from Natalia, since he saw her every day before she left recently on business for the royal family, but he wanted to hear from the others.

Hell, he would have liked a letter from Jade at this point!

Not even his best friend had written a letter to him. That surprised Luke. Just because he and Alex were living together now, it meant that he only got one letter from them? How was that fair?! Luke was lonely and bored! He wanted to hear from friends, dammit! Was it so much to ask?

He understood they were probably all busy, especially since he'd heard plenty from Natalia about small riots and uproars about the Score. He imagined Ion and Anise had their hands full. But how long would it take to write a letter?

Luke sighed, at least he had Pere to talk to...and Mieu. He laughed, a few months ago he never would have thought being alone with Mieu was a good thing.

"What's funny, Master?"

Luke looked down at the small Cheagle at his feet, staring up at him with wide eyes. "Nothing, Mieu. Guess I'm just starting to go stir crazy or something..."

He heard the sound of one of the maid's high-heels approaching, and looked up. His small smile turned almost instantly to a frown when he noticed the girl with brown pigtails actually looked scared of him as she approached. Just because he was a replica he was suddenly scary? He remembered this girl as being one of the few who _wasn't _scared of him before he disappeared from the manor. She was always the one who told it like it was, and Luke remembered actually kind of liking that about her.

But now she looked scared of him, like she was worried she'd catch some kind of disease if she got too close, and it pissed him off.

"M-Master Luke," she bowed down before him, "His Grace is requesting your presence in the drawing room."

"Thank you," he replied, attempting a smile in hopes that she would realize he wasn't by any means scary.

It didn't seem to work, and she bowed again quickly, and hurried away from him, looking as frightened as ever.

In what way was he scary? He didn't act anything like the Duke, who was really the scary one in the manor. He'd have to ask his friends sometime if he ever saw them, they'd probably all laugh at him for even asking, though. Maybe if he brought Jade there, everyone would realize he really wasn't scary at all.

If that maid thought _he _was scary, she should consider herself lucky Asch _didn't_ return to the manor.

* * *

"It's been a month since you came home. Princess Natalia is traveling the world on official business, and look at you! Start living a little more like a member of House Fabre."

That was the thing. He didn't even feel like he _was _a member of House Fabre. He was even having trouble thing of his mother and father _as _his mother and father anymore. And he was growing tired of hearing the same speech from the Duke everyday.

"...Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

The Duke sighed, "No. I want to confirm something regarding the battle at the Absorption Gate."

That explained why General Cecille stood next to him, looking a little awkward about the little outburst from the Duke.

"When Van fell into the core, did his sword stay stuck in the floor?"

"Yes..." Luke was confused about this odd question.

Cecille gasped, "That must mean someone has..."

The Duke nodded before standing up from his seat.

"Did something happen?" Luke asked.

Cecille quickly explained, "We received word from Belkend that the Planet Storm has suddenly grown more active."

"We sent teams to investigate the Absorption Gate and the Radiation Gate," the Duke continued, "They found signs that someone else had been there, and Van's sword was gone."

"Someone took it?" Luke asked. What did that mean? Why would someone go all the way through the Absorption Gate just for Van's sword?

"We believe so."

"Brigadier General Cecille, we must report this to His Majesty."

With that, the Duke left, Cecille following close behind, Luke watching them leave.

"How about going to see your friends?"

Luke almost jumped at the sudden voice, he'd hardly noticed his mother sitting there, since she hadn't said anything so far.

"Mother...?"

"You look as though you feel you don't belong here."

Luke smiled weakly at her, she was really the only person here who understood him. "Th-that's not..."

"Ever since Alexandra and Guy left, this manor has been stuffy and uncomfortable to you, hasn't it? Why don't you go out? Enjoy a change of scenery." Luke couldn't quash the feeling that she might have been trying to get rid of him. He knew she wasn't, she was far too kind, but there was still that nagging feeling. "Just promise me you'll come back."

"It's okay for me to come back?" Luke blurted out, and Susanne gave him a soft smile in return.

"Of course. Let's see. Ramdas should know where your friends are. Why don't you go speak to him?"

Luke thought about all his friends, and he remembered Tear and her condition. He really wanted to see her again, something about her presence just seemed to sooth him, even if she was reprimanding her a lot of the time. He felt like he belonged around her and the others, and he was getting excited just thinking about seeing everyone again. He smiled for what felt like the first time in months before he thanked his mother and went to find Ramdas.

* * *

"His Grace had asked me not to deliver them, but I have some letters addressed to you."

Luke couldn't help but feel annoyed at this, he'd been desperate for some word on his friends for the entire month, he'd been getting irritated with them for not writing, and all along it should have been the Duke he was angry with?

"Why would Father do that?"

"His Grace wishes you to associate only with people befitting the heir to the Duchy.

Luke sighed angrily, "The real heir is Asch, not me. You know that! Give me those letters!"

He angrily snatched the letters away from Ramdas and turned and walked away. He knew where his friends would be, he didn't need to ask. He was too irritated to feel bad about being angry with Ramdas as he left the manor.

He mentally apologized to his friends for ever doubting them as he flipped through the envelopes to see who wrote him. He should have known Father would do something like this.

Guy, Anise, Noelle...Tear.

He pulled Tear's letter out with a smile and pocketed the rest, reading as he went down to the port.

...

Guy felt much better over the past few days knowing Alex would be spending less time with Cameron. He really didn't like the idea of the brunette man spending more time with her during the day than he did to begin with, but now that he knew why Cameron always gave him a bad vibe, he had a real reason to want to keep them apart. Though he knew he wouldn't have any control over if they spent time together outside of the office, and that worried him.

But he definitely wasn't jealous.

Or at least he would never admit he was - not even to himself.

Mostly he was worried something could happen to Alex that was very similar to what he saw between Cameron and the other woman from a few days ago, only Guy might not be there to stop it from happening.

In the meantime, he'd been spending a lot of time outside of work and the House of Nobles in more psychology sessions with Vaccaro. He figured the faster he got over his phobia, the faster he could ask Alex, which would hopefully lead to her spending even less time with Cameron.

He had already made a lot of progress with his phobia too, and he had been keeping up with his plan to do something nice for Alex every day, though it proved to be difficult some days due to their busy schedules. He'd always somehow managed to make time to spend with her though, no matter how tired they both were.

Though he had been able to get a lot closer to Alex lately, he knew he would still have difficulty with staying in contact with her for more than a few moments. But he was finally confident enough in the progress he'd made that he felt he could finally ask her out without the old phobia getting in the way. He knew she would be patient for him to get over the phobia fully, as Isabell had told him, and quite honestly, he would need Alex's help in getting better with it anyway. He needed someone to constantly be in contact with in order for him to really progress from the point he was at, and the obvious choice was her.

"So, how goes Operation Get Alex?"

Guy had by now gotten used to Emperor Peony's strange ways of saying hello, so he wasn't even thrown off by this question or the fact that he had made the whole thing an 'Operation' as he finally entered Peony's chambers, or rather, was dragged into his chambers by the herd of rappigs he'd been walking for the past couple hours. He was exhausted, one of the rappigs had managed to get away from him early on, so he had to somehow find it while the other rappigs attempted to drag him off in every other direction. It didn't surprise him at all that the rappig that got away and caused all the trouble in the first place was Jade.

"It's going well," Guy answered, though he was really too tired to want to.

"You might want to get a move on, Gailardia. My sources tell me that Cameron's been trying to ask her out a lot lately, despite the fact that they're no longer working together."

"Your 'sources'?" Guy asked, "How involved are you in this, Your Majesty?"

Emperor Peony shrugged as one of his smaller rappigs jumped onto his lap, "I'm just a hopeless romantic. Besides, it helps take my mind a bit off the chaos lowering the lands started."

"How is everything going with that?"

"Well, Malkuth doesn't have as many problems with riots or anything of the like as Kimlasca and Daath, since the majority of our country has been in the Qliphoth for a while now. Any sort of riots about going against the Score have quieted down here, so we're mainly just dealing with rebuilding the cities like St. Binah and Engeve. Things have been going well in those regards, but it's still a bit of a headache to deal with. Which is why I need something to do to keep my mind off of it on occasion."

"Enter me and Alex?"

"Exactly!" Peony smiled as he scratched the rappig on his lap behind its ear, "So, what do you have planned for her tonight?"

"Well, actually," Guy sighed, not knowing what to expect from Peony when he said it, "I'm thinking of asking her out tonight."

"That's great! My little Gailardia's all grown up! " Peony exclaimed, ignoring the small embarrassed blush on Guy's face, "In that case, you can't go wrong with flowers. She likes flowers, right?"

"I think so..." Guy replied, what girl didn't like flowers? "I always saw her staring at them and asking Pere about them in the manor, anyway."

On his way back home, Guy decided not to go with flowers like Peony had said, he figured they might be too much. That turned out to be a good call, as when he got home he was faced with an angry looking Alex.

Immediately he wondered what he possibly could have done to make her angry, since he hadn't seen her yet that day and they were perfectly fine the night before, and his mind went immediately to wondering if something happened between her and Cameron.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her, hoping nothing did happen with Cameron.

"Jade's obviously been trying to keep me away from Cameron lately, and I was wondering if you had anything to do with it?" she asked outright, advancing on him with her arms crossed.

"What?"

"There's no way someone like _Jade_ would go out of his way to do something like that without any reason to. And I want to know what that reason is."

Guy hadn't yet wrapped his head around what was going on, it was all pretty out of the blue. He figured he shouldn't lie to her, and decided to tell her the truth, "Look-"

"I know you've been acting different whenever Cameron's around, or whenever he's brought up in conversation," Alex said, "If you're jealous, then-"

"I'm not jealous!" Guy snapped, he was tired of people saying he was, "I just don't think you should be around him anymore."

"Why not?" Alex demanded, "Do you have any good reason? He's a nice person-"

"You're so naive," Guy groaned without thinking, covering his face, "You have no idea what Cameron's really like." She was too blind to this sort of thing. She had no experience with people like that in the manor.

Alex raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh? And what is he _really _like?"

He sighed, before explaining as calmly as he could what he had witnessed a few days before. She went from angry to shocked while he was explaining, and thankfully didn't interrupt him at all. Once he was finished explaining, he waited for her to say something, she looked lost for words.

"Hold on," she said slowly, before narrowing her eyes at him, "How long ago was this?"

"Uh, well..." Guy struggled to find words for a few moments, "A few nights ago."

"And it didn't cross your mind to tell me this right away?!" she asked incredulously, "For Yulia's sake, I continued to hang out with the guy, and you _knew_ he was a scumbag without telling me?! How is that a good thing?"

"I didn't think you'd believe me," Guy sighed, "I figured you'd just think I was jealous and continue to hang out with him anyway, so I thought if you heard it from someone else, like Jade, then you'd believe them. But I guess he didn't tell you like I thought he would."

"I don't think I would have ignored it," she told him, "You never struck me as the type to lie about something like that."

"I guess..." Guy replied, "I just thought about our argument a few months ago in Port Belkend. It was about something pretty similar to this, and that one ended in us not talking at all for over a week, I didn't really want that to happen again."

Alex nodded, "Fine. I guess that's fair enough."

"I wasn't really thinking. Sorry."

"It's fine," she replied, though she still looked slightly irritated. She wasn't looking at him anymore, and that annoyed him a bit.

"No, it's not," he replied, "You could have ended up getting hurt because I never told you. I'd hate it if that ever happened to you. That's why I asked Jade to keep him away from you as much as he could. I figured he'd tell you, too, but I guess he didn't."

"If you'd have just told me to begin with you wouldn't have needed Jade to do that. He's busy enough as it is without this, I could have dealt with Cameron on my own."

"I didn't want to take that chance," Guy told her.

"I've told you several times that I can take care of myself," she sighed with her face in her hands before looking up at him again, "Why do you still insist on protecting me this much?!"

Hadn't he made it glaringly obvious by now?! Guy frustratedly ran his hands through his hair, wracking his brain for anything he could do to make it obvious enough for her why he didn't want to take the chance of her not being able to protect herself from Cameron. He didn't want to actually say it, since he thought he shouldn't have to by now. He did the only thing he could think of.

He kissed her.


	47. Preparing for Departure

_Chapter 47: Preparing for Departure_

Guy pulled her face closer to his as he kissed her, one hand ending up in her hair as the other gently cupped her cheek.

Alex was completely in shock by what was happening, butterflies erupting in her stomach. Her eyes were wide open, and she couldn't help but stare at his face. He looked peaceful...yet like he was concentrating at the same time.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered closed and she finally responded, a little shyly at first, moving her lips against his. Once she felt more confident, she leaned into him, and had to stand on tip-toe while placing her hands on his chest to get as close as she could to him.

She was amazed he could even continue for this long, and he only surprised her further when one of his hands trailed down to her back and he pulled her even closer to him.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, but was really only a couple moments. Alex's mind protested when they finally parted.

She was still in complete shock when it was over, and it took her a while to open her eyes again fully.

"O-oh...Well when you put it that way..."

Ever since their small kiss before the Absorption Gate, and even before then, she had often thought about kissing him like that - particularly after he had kissed her on the cheek a few nights ago - and the feeling was so much better than she had ever imagined. It left her brain fuzzy, and she was hardly able form words. All she could think about was how soft his lips were.

Guy sighed, "I know you can take care of yourself, but I just don't want to risk seeing you get hurt."

Alex nodded slowly, her mind still on the kiss. She'd forgotten completely why she was upset with him in the first place. She still hadn't quite regained her tongue.

"I should have told you about Cameron right away."

"I can't believe I never even noticed he was like that, he always seemed so nice..."

Guy nodded at her, and she remembered why she was upset with him before he kissed her.

"I thought we promised we wouldn't keep things like that from each other once it was all out in the open that I was from Hod?" she asked.

"Right...sorry. I just really didn't think you'd believe it coming from me."

"Stop apologizing. I overreacted a bit anyway," Alex sighed. She did believe him. She had been wondering what reason Cameron would have for being so nice to her even outside of work, and now she would definitely have to keep a closer eye on him whenever she would have to be with him in Malkuth Headquarters. Guy was obviously uncomfortable with Cameron being around her, and when she thought about it, it didn't look like mere jealousy. What he said he saw was most likely true, Guy wouldn't lie about something like that.

There was the small chance, however, that Guy didn't see the whole event, or that it could have been slightly exaggerated. Maybe she could get Cameron to confess and tell his side of the story the next time she had to work with him on something.

"While we're on the topic of not keeping things from each other..." Guy started, and Alex looked up at him, "There is one more thing I should tell you - it's not anything you should worry about, though."

"Alright, what is it?"

"Well...For the past couple weeks I've been seeing a doctor-"

"What?!" Alex interrupted, her eyes widened again and her heart rate quickened, "Why? You're not sick, are you? I thought you said this wasn't something to worry about!"

"It's not!" Guy laughed, holding out his hands to silence her and calm her down, "Emperor Peony just suggested I start seeing a psychologist to help me with my phobia, that's all."

Alex sighed, placing a hand over her chest in an attempt to calm down her heart's wild beating, "Then just say you're going to a psychologist and don't scare me like that!"

Guy scratched the back of his head, "You didn't let me finish." One of his trademark boyish grins appeared on his face, "But I'm touched that you would be so worried."

"Shut up," Alex blushed, making Guy laugh again. Her mind wandered back to their kiss, "So I guess I don't need to ask if these sessions have been going well."

Guy continued to smile at her, "Not really. It's actually kind of amazing the progress I've made."

"I'll say. So why didn't you tell me you were going to a psychologist?"

Guy shrugged, "I kind of wanted to surprise you with how much better I've been getting with the phobia, I guess."

"You've definitely done that," Alex told him with a raised eyebrow, "So what now?"

"Well..." Guy went back to scratching the back of his head, and she knew he was nervous, "I'm not completely over the phobia yet, but at this point the only way I could really get much better with it is if I had help. Like if I was constantly around you...or something."

"So...?"

"So," he sighed before grabbing her hand, and she couldn't help but blush when he did, "I'm wondering, or asking, I guess, if you would do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

"Does everything you say have to sound so cheesy?" she asked, failing to conceal how red or how happy she was. Guy only gave her an amused look, still waiting for her answer. She brought her free hand up to her chin, pretending to think about his question. She didn't miss him roll his eyes slightly at her action before she spoke, "I'll have to think about that..."

"Alex..." She noted with amusement the warning tone in his voice.

She laughed before smiling up at him, "Yes. I would be honored to be your girlfriend."

Guy smiled back at her and pulled her into a hug. Alex wasn't so sure he needed as much help getting over his phobia as he said he did.

"So what happens if I end up being the only girl you can get this close to?" she joked as she hugged him.

"It wouldn't matter that much. There isn't anyone else I'd want to get this close to."

"Again with the cheesiness." Alex rolled her eyes.

"I just say what comes to mind," Guy shrugged, leaning in to kiss her again.

She couldn't help it; she grinned as she kissed him back.

* * *

When Alex went to work the next day, she was a lot more wary of Cameron. She didn't have his side of the story yet, so she wanted to give him a chance, but she knew Guy would never lie about something like that.

She still found herself trying to avoid Cameron for as long as possible, though. She spent most of the day inside Jade's office, including her break, and Jade easily figured out who she was trying to avoid. They easily kept up with the small amounts of paperwork they sometimes received after they had finally caught up, until Jade asked her to find a certain document for him in the file room. She planned to go and find it as quickly as possible in order to avoid any run-ins with Cameron.

She snuck as quietly as she could past the office where Cameron worked and into the file room down the hall, sighing in relief as she closed the door behind her.

"Hey! I've been wondering where you were hiding."

Crap. She hadn't even noticed Cameron was in the room when she entered, she was too busy trying to be quiet. Well, sneaking down the hall like an idiot was just a colossal waste of time.

"Why'd you look so relieved just now?" Cameron asked her, "Trying to avoid someone?"

"Something like that," Alex replied with a nervous laugh, making a beeline for the cabinet that would hold the document she was looking for while making sure she could still see Cameron in her peripherals.

"You look like something's troubling you," Cameron said, and she noticed he seemed to have abandoned looking for whatever document he needed and was now approaching her. She tried to ignore him as she continued to look for her own document. The faster she found it, the faster she could get out of there. "Did something happen?"

"No," she answered bluntly.

"I doubt that, you're acting really weird."

"Okay, fine," she sighed, aggravated, "Guy told me he walked in on you trying to take advantage of a girl in the middle of an alleyway a few nights ago. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

She finally looked up from her document searching for a few seconds to see he looked completely stunned. He remained quiet for a few moments before he started laughing, and the sound made her a little uncomfortable. She couldn't help but notice that he hadn't actually denied it, either.

"What is you relationship with Guy anyway?" he asked.

"Why does that matter?" she replied, diving back into the file cabinet, praying she could just find what she was looking for and leave. If worse came to worse, she had taken to carrying around a small knife strapped to her waist as she no longer carried her sword around on a daily basis. She felt strange not having some form of weapon on her all the time though, especially after months of worrying for her life, hence why she had taken to carrying around the smaller weapon. She sincerely hoped she wouldn't have to use it even just to threaten Cameron.

"I don't think he likes us being friends," Cameron shrugged, "Clearly he has feelings for you and he's jealous, or insecure, or something."

"Will you be getting to a point anytime soon?"

"Well, did you ever think he just made it up so you wouldn't hang out with me anymore?" He was getting too close to her now.

Where was that damn document?

"Guy wouldn't make something like that up," she told him through gritted teeth.

"Oh, okay," Cameron smiled innocently in an unnerving way, "So I guess I just have an evil twin or something I don't know about running around and making me look bad."

"More like a drunken alter ego you can't control," Alex muttered harshly, and Cameron let out a chuckle.

"Someone's been having a bad day," he said in an irritating sing-song voice. It was hard to believe just the day before Alex thought he was a great guy, and now his very presence irritated her beyond belief. "Did you and Guy get into an argument or something last night? So now you're taking it out on me, is that what this is?"

Alex remained silent, every fiber of her being focusing on trying to find that document and not do something to Cameron she'd later regret. He seemed to take her silence as a yes.

"I don't know what you see in him," Cameron said slowly. Alex was now taking deep breaths in attempts to keep herself calm, though it wasn't working very well. "Is he really worth the wait if he just upsets you like this? I mean, shouldn't you forget about him and try to be a little more interested in someone who could actually _touch_ you?"

Finally, she found the document she was looking for and pulled it out of the cabinet, wanting to just get the hell out of there, just as she felt Cameron's hand in her hair, and his breath right beside her ear.

"Like me, for example."

Without even a thought, Alex whipped around and slapped him hard across the face, the sound echoing around the room. She wouldn't be surprised if it was heard all the way down the hall too, as the halls were usually quiet around that time of day.

He raised an eyebrow at her while placing a hand on his now red cheek. She didn't feel bad at all for him about the fact that it would probably be swelling for a while. Glaring at him, she headed straight for the door, document in hand, but it opened before she could get to it and in came two soldiers.

"What's goin' on in here?" a black-haired woman asked. Her voice was rather raspy, and her skin was dark, from what Alex could tell with the small amount of skin showing from her armor. She had her helmet off, so Alex could see her warm, grey eyes clearly.

The black-haired woman and the other soldier, who was wearing their helmet so Alex couldn't see their appearance, looked between Alex and Cameron and took in the scene.

"Aren't you the girl who got a job working for Colonel Curtiss?" the one in the full armor asked. At least Alex knew now he was male by his voice.

She nodded, "Yes, and I really have to be getting back to his office now, please excuse me."

With that she pushed past the two soldiers and headed back to Jade's office, the woman's voice following her as she went, "You didn' actually think you had a shot with someone like her, didja? The girl helped save the Outer Lands for Yulia's sake! She's way outta your league."

She closed the door a little harder than she intended to when she reentered Jade's office and dropped the document on his desk as she took her seat across from him. Jade didn't even look up from the paperwork he was currently working on when she sat down.

"Cameron?" he asked as he continued to write. She could tell by his voice that he didn't entirely care all that much.

"Yeah," she sighed, it was safe to say she'd be avoiding the boy in question like the plague from then on, "Cameron."

* * *

"You were right about Cameron," Alex said as she entered Guy's room and let herself fall backwards onto his bed so she was staring up at the ceiling.

Guy was tinkering with one of the small machines in his room at the time, and appeared to be really trying to concentrate on what he was doing, but still replied to Alex. "You talked to him?"

"Yep," Alex replied, popping the 'p', "It ended well," she added sarcastically.

"What happened?"

She sat up on the bed so she could watch him for his reaction, "I ended up alone in the filing room with him while looking for a document for Jade, so I asked him about what happened and he didn't deny it. Then, he _subtly_made the suggestion the I leave you and go out with him instead. I think he was going to try and kiss me, too."

Guy narrowed his eyes, though they were still on the machine before him, "And?"

"I slapped him."

His lips curved into a small smile before he finally looked up at her, "How hard?"

Alex smirked at him, "Gailardia Galan, are you really getting pleasure out of another person's pain?"

"That depends. How hard did you hit him?"

"The room echoed, and two soldiers came in a couple minutes later because they heard the impact from outside."

Guy let out a low whistle, "Damn. Remind me to never make you that mad at me."

"I don't think that'll be a problem. I doubt I could ever get _that_ mad at you."

He smiled at her before turning back to his machine, "Sorry about how things turned out. You'll find other friends, better than Cameron."

She nodded and fell back onto his bed once more, "Can't we just bring Luke over here? He's a good friend, and we know for a fact he would never hit on me."

Guy laughed, "As tempting as that sounds, we can't just force him to defect to Malkuth."

"I don't think we'd really have to force him. I bet he's pretty bored in the manor."

"I sent him that letter a while ago saying he was welcome here any time to visit, and I still haven't gotten a reply."

"I bet the Duke has been intercepting his mail," Alex replied, thinking about the letter she got from Anise a while ago, "Anise said she hasn't received a reply from him either."

Guy sighed, "That wouldn't surprise me."

"I've been kind of worried about him anyway," Alex said, sitting up again, "Alone in the manor, he's probably thinking all these depressing things about how Asch should be there instead and what worth he has in the world."

"I know what you mean," Guy said, "I've been worrying about him too. We could always make a trip down to Baticul some time to see him, if you don't mind being in the manor."

"I think I could suck it up to see how he's doing there."

"Good." Guy paused for a moment, "So listen, now that we're going out, I know that I've made a lot of progress with my phobia, but..."

Alex understood completely what he was getting at, and didn't mind in the least. Honestly, she was just happy to actually be able to say she was Guy's girlfriend. She didn't want to rush anything between them either, and thought it would be better for them to go at a rate they were both comfortable with. If things changed too much between them right away, it could possibly be weird for both of them as well as the others whenever they might be around. Thinking of the others brought up another question Alex had in mind.

"I understand," she held up a hand to silence him, "I'm fine with going slow. I think too much change would be a little too overwhelming anyway, we've been friends for years." she paused, "And since we'll be going slow anyway, do you think we should tell the others, or wait until later on?"

Guy thought about it for a moment, then shrugged, "I don't know. That was really the last thing on my mind...What do you think?"

"Well...Maybe we should hold off on telling them all until we're more comfortable in the relationship ourselves?" she suggested, "I think everyone knowing might put some unwanted pressure on us. Just thinking about what Anise might say is a little scary, and I think Natalia could use all the time we can give her to adjust to the idea of us being together."

"Fair enough. Then we won't tell anyone for now."

Before Alex could say anything else, the door to Guy's bedroom opened and Isabell walked in, her hair down and wet, like she had just gotten out of the shower.

"Oh, by the way," Guy said, as if he just remembered something important, "Bell's in town."

Alex raised an eyebrow at him, "You don't say?" She hadn't been expecting her sister in town until the day after, so she was shocked by her sudden appearance, but happy to see her nonetheless. Every time Alex saw Isabell with her hair down, she found herself wishing she had inherited a bit more of her mother's genes, as she thought Isabell had lucked out with how beautiful she was.

Isabell walked over and sat down next to Alex on the bed, and then handed her a pair of small blades. They looked different from one another, one of them was a bit longer than the other, and the other hardly looked sword-like at all. Its blade curved over the gripping and extended to a point, so she could do some very serious damage just by punching someone, and at the end of the gripping of the longer one there was a small, sharp point that looked to be for particularly close range battles, where she could probably bring the point into a person's temple if the situation called for it. Isabell insisted that she keep that point covered by the small guard it had until she was completely comfortable in using the new weapon, and told her always to keep it covered when sparring with someone.

"Why?" Alex asked, she understood wanting to keep it sheathed when sparring, but it was pretty normal for a person to hurt themselves once or twice while training on their own.

"That guard holds a poison in it, so that small point can obviously do some pretty serious damage if there's not someone there to cure the poison right away. If it's not treated quickly the person would die."

"Whoa," Alex said, her eyebrows raising, continuing to inspect her new weapon with curiosity, "So only use it for emergencies, basically?"

Isabell nodded, "Yes, and the poison in that guard will need to be replaced every so often too, to keep it potent, and you could probably use it two or three times before you'll want to replace the poison before it loses its potency. You can usually find someone for that in a weapon shop. At the very least they'll be able to point you in the direction of someone who can do it for you."

"Okay, I'll have to remember to do that."

"I didn't know you were learning to handle a new weapon," Guy said, and Alex almost jumped off the bed when she heard his voice so close to her ear. She hadn't noticed him sit down on the other side of her, looking over her shoulder at the weapons.

"Sorry, I guess I just didn't mention it," she replied, passing them over for Guy to look at before turning back to Isabell, who was smirking slightly at them.

"What?" Alex asked her.

"Nothing," Isabell smiled, "Anyway, those should be pretty easy to handle, you just have to get used to the change."

"Why are you changing weapons, anyway?" Guy asked, passing the blades back to Alex.

"These'll be easier for manipulating the Third Fonon," Isabell answered for her, "I suggested the idea, and she agreed. She could still continue to use her sword though, if she wanted to."

"I doubt we'll have to be constantly fighting for our lives again like we were a month ago, so the change shouldn't be a big deal," Alex shrugged, "I think once I get used to these I'll jut stick to them. They'd be easier to conceal than my sword, anyway, so I could just carry them around with me without getting any weird looks or anything, and they'll be a lot more effective than the knife I've been carrying around."

"Well, we'll spar a bit tomorrow to help you get used to them," Isabell said, "For now, let's get some dinner, I'm starving."

Alex nodded and the two girls stood up before looking to Guy to see if he was coming.

"Go on without me," he said before going back to the machine on his floor, "I'm getting really close to figuring this out, I know it. I'll just take a little while longer, then I'll find you later."

Isabell shrugged and led Alex out of his room and down the stairs. As soon as Guy was out of earshot, she turned to Alex, "So when were you planning on telling me you two are a couple?"

"How did-?"

"Please, Alex," Isabell waved her hand dismissively, "It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Any tension around you guys that was there the last time I visited is gone now."

Alex sighed, "Okay, it happened last night. Jade was keeping me away from Cameron at work for the past few days and I figured Guy had something to do with it, I came home and confronted him about it, he told me about this time he walked in on Cameron trying to take advantage of a woman, we argued, he kissed me, and then things just went from there."

"Well, I can tell you two are a lot happier than you were a few days ago, so I'm happy for you. And I doubt Guy would ever do anything to hurt you, so I'm glad you're with him."

"Thanks...And we aren't telling anyone yet, so can you keep it to yourself?"

"You're implying the others wouldn't be able to figure it out on their own?" Isabell raised an eyebrow at her, "I probably won't have to tell them."

Isabell opened the door for them to leave when they heard a whirring sound coming from Guy's room, followed by a loud bang and then a hissing sound accompanied by a few curses from Guy. The sound stopped just as soon as it started, and they heard his door close and his footsteps coming down the stairs before a very unimpressed Guy appeared before them.

He didn't say a word as he followed them out the door, and Alex couldn't help but giggle at him.

* * *

"Ah, Alex, I was looking for you."

Alex, Guy, and Isabell all looked up from their conversation as Jade approached them an took the empty seat next to Guy.

"Is something wrong, Colonel?" Alex asked.

"I have news," he replied, "Regarding what happened in the file room with Cameron today."

Suddenly Guy and Isabell looked a lot more interested in what he had to say, and Alex realized she never actually told Isabell what happened, but she really didn't want to talk about it at the moment.

"I didn't even explain to you what happened," Alex told him, "How do you even know?"

"I spoke to soldier by the name of Lyneya who claims she saw part of what took place," he replied, and Alex figured it must have been the dark-skinned woman from before, "I want you to know that with what she told me, I issued a formal complaint to Chief of Staff Sesemann as well as His Majesty for sexual harassment. Cameron is now on probation, and will have a close eye on him in whatever he does."

Alex's mouth was wide open as he spoke, she couldn't believe Jade of all people would go out of his way to do something like that, "What? You really didn't need to do that-"

Jade held up a hand to quiet her, "While you may have been able to avoid too much trouble with him, the next woman he sets his eyes on may not be as able. The Malkuth military's reputation would be damaged if such a thing were to occur."

Somehow Alex doubted Jade was really as concerned about the military's reputation as he said he was.

"Why don't they just fire him, then?" Guy asked.

"Alex wasn't the one to issue the complaint," Jade explained, "With only Lyneya's account of what happened, it wasn't enough evidence for harsher punishment, such as firing Cameron."

Everyone at the table then turned their gaze to Alex, and she easily figured out where this was going, "You want me to issue a complaint?" When Jade said nothing, she continued, "I don't even think what happened in there could even be classified as sexual harassment. He wasn't forcing himself on me or anything, it's not anything I should report him over."

"For now," Isabell told her, and Guy nodded in agreement.

"She's right. If you don't do anything about it, it could just progress into something worse."

"But he can't do anything if he's being closely watched," Alex countered.

"He won't be watched that closely for long," Jade replied, "Once he's off probation he'll be free to go back to his old ways."

"And he may just want to get even for being put on probation in the first place," Isabell finished, and they way she worded it made Alex really nervous.

"How long will he be on probation?" she asked quietly, avoiding everyone's gaze.

"One month. Possibly less if he shows no signs of acting the way he did when you were alone in that room with him."

Alex sighed, "I'll report him."

The others seemed pleased with her answer, and Jade turned to Guy, "They may need your account of what happened when you saw him and that woman, as well."

Guy nodded, "Yeah, no problem. I ended up walking her home too, and I think I remember where she lives. We could probably get her help."

"Good. Did you get her name, by any chance?"

"Yeah...I think she said her name was Claire."

Jade nodded and turned back to Alex, "You'll have to report him tomorrow."

"Is there a certain time-frame to report something like that?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what is it?" Isabell asked.

"We'll be leaving for St. Binah the day after tomorrow," Jade explained, "They'll also need a written document on your account of what transpired, as you won't be in town when they bring him into court."

"Wait, back up," Alex told him, "Why are we going to St. Binah?"

"They need someone to help in training some of the new recruits, and Emperor Peony decided it would be best if I went. I'm meant to take along a few soldiers of my choice. I have yet to choose any others, but I've decided that you would be the most trustworthy to take along for this, and with your battle experience you could be helpful in training them. Not to mention the new recruits would be more likely to listen to another who has taken on the God-Generals and lived to tell the tale."

"Like they wouldn't listen to you anyway," Alex muttered.

Jade ignored her comment, "Emperor Peony has agreed with my reasoning. He seems to have it in his head that if you came along, you would be able to help make sure I'm 'not too hard' on the recruits."

"I'm sorry, Emperor Peony thinks I can control you now?"

"I agree, it is wishful thinking on his part, isn't it?"

"You think?"

"So you're leaving, then?" Guy asked, He didn't look too happy about it, and Alex didn't blame him. They just became a couple, and hardly two days later she had to leave for what was mostly likely a few weeks.

She smiled sadly at him, "Guess so..."

"I apologize for the bad timing," Jade said as he adjusted his glasses, and Alex realized it really must have been too obvious that they were now a couple. Even though Jade didn't say anything, he had clearly figured it out in no time. "I'll be giving you a uniform tomorrow, it'll be necessary for you to wear one for this."

Alex nodded and Jade left the table and headed out the restaurant.

"I guess tomorrow'll be our last training session, then," Isabell said as she leaned back in her chair, "We'll have to get you as used to those dual blades as we can before you leave. And you'll have to practice manipulating wind on you own from now on."

"Sounds fine to me," Alex replied. It sounded like she had a pretty busy day ahead of her.

...

She missed him.

Even though she knew they did the right thing, Tear missed Van dearly. There wasn't a day that went by where she didn't spend hours sitting by his grave and telling him all about the world they created, and how Fon Master Ion had announced the Score would no longer be read, and how replicating everything wasn't necessary to abolish the Score.

She would tell him that she wished he could have lived to see it, and that she wished he could have realized his mistake before he went too far. She would apologize to him for not being able to pull him out of his insanity and that she had failed as a sister, but she would never apologize for what she and her friends did.

She would tell him that he was wrong.

Wrong about humanity, and Auldrant as a whole.

During her travels with Luke and the others, she saw that everything Van had told her in her youth about the ugliness of the world was wrong. She grew to love the Outer Lands, and the people living in them. She couldn't bear to see them all be annihilated when there was something she could have done about it. So she had no second thoughts about continuing with lowering the lands even after finding about the miasma in the body. She would be lying if she said she wasn't scared, but she wanted to do it for the people who taught her how beautiful Auldrant really was.

She missed them, too. Her friends.

She'd never had friends before them, and found out the hard way that going back to her old life in Yulia City was hard. She wrote them all letters to fill the gap of their absence, and was happy when they wrote back. She felt like they were even there with her when they all teased her at first about how her letters always came off as situation reports. Tear couldn't help it if they did, she had never had anyone to write to before.

But the one person whose reply she was most looking forward to never wrote back, and she found that depressed her quite a bit.

Luke had become very special to her over their travels, and she felt very alone when he wasn't around. She wanted to see him more than anyone, and she ad a strong feeling he was sitting alone in the manor, constantly doubting his worth again without her there to talk some sense into him.

She spoke to Van a lot about Luke. She wondered if she was doing it to make her feel less alone, like both Van and Luke were with her in her selenia garden, but she didn't care. She found speaking to Van calming, and she felt better when she got her thoughts of Luke off her chest.

She was in her garden, praying for Van, when her grandfather approached her and notified her of the increasing Planet Storm. She agreed when he asked her to look into it, happy for something to do to keep her mind off of things. She had started on her report right away, taking her work as seriously as ever, knowing that her grandfather intended for her to deliver the report to Ion.

It was a strange feeling, looking forward to seeing Anise and the Fon Master. After both Van and Major Legretta had died, it was nice to look forward to seeing someone.

She finished her report promptly, and decided to pay one last visit to Van's grave before she left for Daath. She knelt before his grave and placed her hands together, praying for him in the way she usually did. She stopped only when she heard footsteps behind her, expecting it to be her grandfather to send her off. She certainly didn't expect to see Luke kneeling next to her when she opened her eyes.

She stared at him with wide eyes as he prayed for her brother, trying to control the butterflies in her stomach that appeared when she first saw him. They weren't too hard to calm, but she continued to stare at him even after he finished praying and turned to look at her.

"Thank you for...praying for Van," she said quietly, turning her gaze back to Van's grave. In just the second that she saw his eyes, she knew that she was right about him still questioning his worth. He wore a smile on his face that may or may not have been real, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"...Long time no see. Thanks for the letter."

"Y-you're welcome," Tear replied, blushing in embarrassment, "I'd never written a letter before..."

"It was very...you," Luke told her, and Tear smiled at him. She knew it was his way of telling her what the others had teased her about.

"I was just telling Van about you," Tear said, "Van tried to abandon the original human race in order to eliminate the Score. But I'm sure we can turn this world into one without the Score. Why did my brother choose such an extreme method? What was wrong with your method, Luke?" she turned to look at him, "That's all I've been thinking about for this past month. I'm hopeless."

"I'm the same way..." Luke admitted, "The more I think about it, the more scared I get. I shouldn't be in that manor, Asch should." Tear wasn't surprised to hear him say it. "But if I were forced out of my own home, I don't know how I'd live."

"You can always find a way to live," Tear told him. she was tempted to tell him to possibly stay in Yulia City, though she knew there was nothing for him there, "You can get a job, even if it's a meager one."

"I know that!" he told her, scratching his nose like he always did when he was nervous or irritated. Tear smiled, even that small act reminded her of how much she had missed his presence, and how happy she was to see him again. Her smile vanished when she noticed that he looked really depressed, "I'm sorry... I don't even really have a name, or a family. I'm empty. But in that manor, I have the role of 'Luke'. At least I don't have that worry there."

"But you don't look happy," Tear told him, "You look very worried."

Luke let out a small laugh, "Mother said the same thing. I guess it really is written on my face. I don't even have a place at home," he admitted, "Everyone keeps looking at me like 'There's the replica'."

"Oh..." Tear didn't really know what to say to him, "But at the very least your mother isn't one of them, right?"

"But what if Asch comes back?" Luke asks, "How do I know they won't say they don't need me anymore?"

Tear was tired of his thinking like this, "Have you forgotten what you said to King Ingobert about Natalia? Your memories of those years together are real. For you and you parents. And your memories of traveling together with everyone are real as well. They're all your family too. Never forget that."

Luke still didn't seem to be convinced, "I understand that in my head! I am me! But...what am I? Master Van asked me, 'Can you not live unless you born for some purpose?' That's the way I am. I get worried, not knowing what I was born for."

"What did that journey mean to you?" Tear asked him, she had been wanting to see him all this time, but she never wanted to see him like this, "Wasn't it a journey to change yourself?"

Luke paused and thought about it, "I wanted to change. But first I need a 'me' to change. I don't have a 'me' in the first place. So I think I need to find myself."

Tear sighed, "Maybe you should ask yourself whether or not you have a 'you' or not." She elaborated when he gave her a questioning look, "The companions you traveled with. I'll go with you too, I have a report to I need to deliver to Fon Master Ion."

"But your body's still suffering from the miasma..."

"I'll be fine. I have medicine to suppress the pain."

He looked at her worriedly for a few moments, but agreed.

"Then let's go to Daath. We can see Anise there."

Luke smiled and nodded, "Right. Thanks, Tear."

* * *

_**A/N: A reminder that the game's events and plot will be changed more from this point on, which I'm excited about at least. There wasn't a whole lot of room for changes when they were just lowering the lands, but now...heh heh.**_

_**Please review and tell me what you think of the chapter! :) Happy that Guy and Alex are finally together?**_


	48. Morgan

_**A/N: I think we can pretty much assume the chapters with Isabell's POV are all going to be long...  
**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

* * *

_Chapter 48: Morgan_

Sleep would not come.

Isabell was used to this by now, she rarely got more than three consecutive hours of sleep at a time before her dreams led back to memories that haunted her and prevented her from sleeping well at night.

As if it wasn't enough that the memories woke her up in the first place, of course they would keep her awake.

Isabell hated nights. During the day she could distract herself from her own thoughts by talking to people, by training, and by other means, but during the night she was alone in the dark and quiet, with nothing but the memories she wanted to banish from her mind for company.

One memory would trigger the next, and it would only continue from there. It was only during the occasions where a fond memory of Hod, her family and friends, or something similar where she would finally fall asleep, hoping for a dreamless night.

Of course she was never lucky enough to have that dreamless sleep. If she wasn't so used to it by now, she would have trouble functioning in the mornings, like she did when the recurring nightmares really got out of hand, three years previous.

Sometimes she wished she had never met him, and never let him through her shell. But at the same time, she knew she would be worse off if he had never entered her life.

For the few short years she'd known him, just his presence somehow managed to heal and soothe her. After she had allowed him past her shell and opened up to him about the Hod war, she had experienced no more nightmares about it, or watching her home and the people who happened to be in it at the time to the raging fire caused by the invading soldiers' attack.

She'd almost died there, too. One of the male servants of House Gardios she'd been somewhat close to happened to find her and get her out of the building before it was too late, as inhaling immense amounts of smoke left her too weak to do anything herself, barely even conscience anymore.

Ever since that time, she was thrown back to that experience whenever she saw fire. She was fine with candles and small fires, and and grown to be comfortable around campfires over the years, but seeing them in battle in particular reawakened the memory, though thankfully she was now better than she had been.

As for the boy who saved her, he took her to Chesedonia with him, only to die of scorpion poison coupled with dehydration, leaving Isabell completely alone with no means to take care of herself, and with no idea of what happened to her family.

The boy's death was one of the smaller things that would sometimes come up in her mind, she'd had so much happen to her since then that she couldn't even remember his name anymore, but there was no doubt she was still grateful to him for saving her life. She tried to remember his name, but everytime it was on the tip of her tongue it would escape her again.

Isabell sighed deeply and turned over in her bed. If there was something, maybe some kind of medication, that would allow her to just forget these things, she would take it in a second. She felt obligated to remember these people, their deaths and their impact on her life, but it was too much for her sanity to take anymore.

She was slowly losing it.

Maybe Jade knew about such a medication? He must have dealt with the deaths of plenty of people around him too, with his position. She allowed herself a dark laugh. Any soldier would simply point her in the direction of a bar or tavern, she knew that.

She'd once tried to drink her troubles away, but that only led to her waking up in the bed of a stranger the next morning, and she never allowed herself to get in that position again. She preferred the lack of sleep and constant nightmares over the deep pit of shame in her stomach she felt on that morning.

Briefly she wondered if Alex was still awake in her room down the hall, but it had to be at least three in the morning. Everyone knew how much Alex hated to be woken up for any reason.

She didn't really know Guy well enough to wake up at this time, either. And though she had a feeling he would be kind enough to listen to her talk without complaint, it would be awkward for both of them.

Slowly, she managed to drift back into sleep.

_"Any part of you that touches me, you aren't getting back."_

_The blonde male Isabell's cold remark was directed at merely laughed in response and moved closer to her. He raised an arm and positioned it above her head, leaning his body against the door Isabell had to get through._

_She was thoroughly unamused by the man's antics, he was preventing her from getting to a training session. She had never once been late for one of the training sessions, and she didn't intend to be tardy now._

_"I don't have time for this," she snarled, glaring at the man. She noted that he looked slightly scared by her expression for a split second before going back to his annoying smirk. Who the hell was this guy, anyway? And why did he suddenly have interest in Isabell? _

_She'd been training in the Oracle Knight's academy for well over four months now, and she been doing quite well. She was also training directly under Cantabile at night, and the extra training, that was often very harsh with Cantabile, proved to help Isabell become one of the best in her group. _

_She'd done nothing but live and breathe the Oracle Knights._

_With Van's good words as well as Cantabile's recommendation, she was already close to becoming an Oracle Knight in Cantabile's division, albeit a lesser one. _

_Still, it was something to be proud of, and apparently some others in her group had heard of her fast promotion, gaining her a lot of unwanted interest._

_"Aw, come on, Sweetheart," the man said, "I just want to have some fun. The guys and I were talking earlier about your upcoming promotion, and we were thinking about how you got it so quickly," he reached out and lifted her chin and lowered his voice to a whisper, "So tell me, who did you sleep with to get that promotion, huh? And what do I have to do to get some of that action?"_

_Isabell immediately slapped his hand away from her, still glaring daggers at him. She desperately wished she could just draw her sword on him and give him a piece of her mind, but knew it would only ruin everything she had worked for. Granted she had only worked four months for it, but sleeping in the small room she got in the cathedral was so much better than sleeping in the sand. Van had risked his reputation for her sake too, and she couldn't get him in trouble over something like this._

_Her silence at the blonde's disgusting words seemed to come as a good thing for him. The fool seemed to have thought he had won, but just because Isabell couldn't really kill him, didn't mean she couldn't protect herself from the pervert._

_He smiled at her, and she prepared to give him a reason to leave her alone without the use of her sword when someone interrupted her._

_"Leave her alone, Brutis. She didn't ask for any of this attention."_

_Brutis glared at the person behind her, probably thinking he had interrupted something good. Isabell thought he should be glad the man interrupted things before turning to look at the newcomer. She was considering playing along and going with him to his home...castration sounded like a pretty good idea, and she highly doubted Auldrant needed this man breeding anyway._

_"What's your problem, Specs?" Brutis asked as he approached the smaller man. The new man wasn't exactly small, either, it was only that Brutis was very big and muscular, clearly all brawn and no brains. _

_The newcomer didn't seem at all intimidated by Brutis, and looked up at him with unimpressed, bright blue eyes hidden behind pointed glasses. Brutis probably thought he was being clever with his pathetic 'Specs' nickname._

_"My name is Morgan. You know how much I hate that nickname," he replied matter-of-factly, swiping his messy black hair to the side._

_"Well, fine then, _Morgan_. Why should I leave the girl alone? She could have left anytime she wanted to, and she chose to stay."_

_Isabell couldn't help but scoff at him, causing both men to look at her._

_"I thought it was pretty obvious she would rather be anywhere but with you," Morgan told him, "Are you really so dense that you didn't notice you were blocking the door? She couldn't leave because you were _in her way_."_

_As Morgan said the words, he locked eyes with Isabell and nodded toward the now empty doorway. Isabell finally realized that Brutis had left to get to Morgan, and quickly hurried though without a second thought, before Brutis could notice. There were only a few more minutes to get to that training session, and she was usually there at least a half an hour early. She'd wasted enough time with the other maggots, though Morgan seemed good enough to not be considered one of the others._

_Clearly Cantabile hadn't quite gotten through to her about how all humans were maggots._

_Before she had gotten too far, she heard the sound of footsteps running in her direction from behind her. Anticipating that Brutis had figured out she left and Morgan hadn't been able to hold him there, she heaved a deep sigh. _

_At least she was on her way to the training session now, and there were no doorways for him to block anymore._

_"Sorry about back there," came the voice of Morgan, falling in step with Isabell as she continued to walk. She couldn't help but wonder what happened to Brutis. "He's usually not that bad. He's just an idiot who's used to getting what he wants."_

_But why on Auldrant he would want someone as unpleasant as Isabell, she had to wonder. Her hair was short and unappealing for a woman, and the permanent scowl on her face effectively ruined any sense of beauty she had left._

_"I didn't need your help back there," she said simply._

_"Oh, I know," he shrugged, "I've seen you in training, I know what you can be capable of. I just figured it would probably be good to step in before you killed him or something. Think of it as me doing _Brutis _a favor if you'd prefer it that way."_

_Isabell couldn't help but smirk slightly at the comment and Morgan continued speaking. _

_"I already know who you are, everyone's been talking about you and how you're close to Van Grants and General Cantabile. But I should probably introduce myself properly, huh? I'm Morgan Reily-"_

_"Don't you have anywhere you should be?" Isabell asked, cutting across him. He looked slightly hurt for a moment, then nodded._

_"Yeah. It just so happens we're headed to the same place. I'm in your training division."_

_She allowed a brief moment for her to slightly widen her eyes in shock, she had no idea who this person was. She looked him up and down and didn't recognize him at all, yet he said he was in her training division._

_Then again, it wasn't as if she actually paid any attention to the others in her division, she didn't even care about any of them. They all probably die in action anyway, and Cantabile told her from the start not to get close to any of them. It was was ridiculous and unnecessary too close to them, as any emotions that came with a comrade's death could easily lead to her own. _

_"The maggots here in Daath would never be worth such a fate," Cantabile had told her, "No one would ever be worth it."_

_"So you don't recognize me, huh?" he asked with a weak smile, "I guess that makes sense. My artes are pretty mediocre, I doubt I would be noticed by someone as talented as you."_

_"Sorry," Isabell said, though she wasn't sorry at all, "I'm too busy focusing on my own training to notice anyone else."_

_"Well it has paid off," he told her, "But even though it's gotten you a promotion into the Oracle Knights' ranks so quickly, don't you think you should learn how to work with others as a team?"_

_"What good would that do?" Isabell asked bluntly, "They would only hold me down."_

_"Well, that's..." he apparently couldn't think of anything else to say, and remained silent for the rest of the walk to the training grounds._

_After the events of that day, Isabell went back into her usual routine, consisting mostly of sleeping, showering, eating, and training. No time left to socialize with others, though that was obviously by design.  
_

_Despite this, Isabell quickly caught on to Morgan following her around Daath over the next few days, she was catching him around her more frequently as the days progressed. There were times when he would approach her and try to have a conversation with her, but those times always ended in her giving him the cold shoulder.  
_

_She was honestly quite shocked that he even kept trying after some of the things she said to him.  
_

_She decided the next day, when she saw him in the training grounds, that she would ask him why he insisted on trying to talk to her when she had made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him. She was earning some snide remarks from Cantabile when the two of them trained when the woman noticed Isabell together with Morgan throughout the day, and that wouldn't do.  
_

_Isabell wanted Cantabile's approval, and for her to praise her for something - for anything - and that would be near impossible with Morgan constantly around her.  
_

_She ignored the whispers of the others in her group as she marched toward Morgan at the end of their training session.  
_

_He looked surprised when he saw her approaching him, but he looked happy all the same.  
_

_"Stop following me around," she told him with a glare.  
_

_Morgan only smiled in response, and somehow just the small act managed to make Isabell's heart flutter, which in turn infuriated her. She couldn't go and start liking a boy now, not when she was steadily growing stronger and closer to accomplishing her goals.  
_

_"What are you smiling about?" she demanded, irritated when his grin grew wider.  
_

_"I knew my plan would work," he answered simply.  
_

_Isabell sighed in irritation when he didn't elaborate, "What plan?"  
_

_"My plan to get you to talk to me." Isabell was too shocked and confused to speak, so Morgan continued, "I figured if I kept trying to talk to you all the time, then eventually you would want to start a conversation with me."  
_

_"I'm not speaking to you because I want to!" she hissed, though she couldn't help but blush slightly out of embarrassment. Why would he be so hellbent on getting her to talk to him? "I'm telling you to stop following me! What possible reason could you have for wanting me to talk to you, anyway? Are you trying to win some sort of childish bet?"_

_"No, of course not! I just..." Morgan shrugged, "I don't know. You always look so lonely."  
_

_"Just because I'm alone, it does_ not_ mean I'm lonely."_

_"Sure, I guess, but every day it's the same. You don't talk to anyone, and you never smile. I've been watching you in training for months now, and I have never once seen you smile."  
_

_"Soldiers aren't meant to have emotions. You won't get very far in the Oracle Knights if you have such a weak heart that you care this much about whether or not a girl you don't know smiles. How do you expect to kill a person if the situation arises?"  
_

_Morgan was quiet for a moment, "You don't want to kill people?"  
_

_"Don't be stupid! I'm only saying that as a soldier the time will come where you have to choose between taking a person's life, or losing your own. What decision do you intend to make when that time comes?"  
_

_Morgan looked down at his feet for a few moments before avoiding the question altogether. "Maybe soldiers _would_ be better off without emotions, but while they're on duty. It doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to laugh or have a good time with friends after they're finished work for the day. They should still be entitled to being human! Don't you want to have a friend, or someone you can relate to."  
_

_Isabell laughed, in a cold, heartless way, "I doubt there's anyone in this room that I can relate to. I prefer my quiet life as it is now, it's infinitely better than how I lived months ago."  
_

_"You can't be that cold at such a young age without reason," Morgan said quietly, looking a little concerned for her now after the small mention of her past, and she hated him for it, "Something must have happened to you-"  
_

_"I don't want to talk about my past with a stranger," Isabell snapped, narrowing her eyes.  
_

_"But that's the thing! We're all strangers to you! It can't be healthy to spend so much time alone. If you keep all the bad memories bottled up long enough, you'll just explode. Don't you have anyone you can talk to about your past?"  
_

_"Whether or not it's healthy, I'm perfectly fine with things the way they are." She didn't wait for him to respond before she turned on her heel and left the area. Where did he get the right to such things to her? He didn't know anything about her. And whether he knew it or not, she did have Van to talk to when things got to be too much for her. That was good enough in Isabell's mind. _

_She barely registered Morgan shouting after her as she left the room.  
_

_"Mark my words, Isabell! One of these days I _will_ get you to smile!"_

_She doubted it._

* * *

Isabell woke up with a sigh, and slowly sat up in her bed. Looking out the window through half-lidded eyes she noticed with relief that the sun had begun to rise. She was still tired, but she didn't care. She knew from experience that once she got out of bed and had a shower she would be fully awake for the day.

She sighed once more and took the ring hanging from a long, silver chain around her neck into her fingers. Morgan's ring; it was the only thing she had to remind her of him.

Even though he was no longer with her, she was seriously grateful for what he did for her. He had made her realize that life wasn't exactly worth living as Cantabile's puppet, and how much better off she was as her own person.

She began playing with the ring in her fingers as she thought.

Cantabile had been very disappointed when Morgan slowly managed to break into Isabell's shell. She attempted to talk her into her old mindset, but by then she had grown to enjoy Morgan's company too much to be swayed back into her old ways. Isabell didn't want to go back to being a puppet.

She began to spend less time around Cantabile after that, and barely spoke to her anymore outside of training. Cantabile caught onto her trying to avoid the older woman and began to attempt talking sense into her while they trained, telling her over and over again that it would be best to cut off all ties with Morgan as Isabell would be joining Cantabile's division in the Oracle Knights within weeks.

When Isabell continued to show that she had no intentions of becoming the shell of a girl once again, Cantabile shook her head at her.

_"I thought you had the potential to be better than the rest of those maggots, Isabell. Everyone should have one person they can trust. For you, that person should remain myself."_

Isabell happened to disagree with that now, and Cantabile told her that she was growing soft and despaired over the fact that Isabell had become such a strong and independent person like herself, only to lose it all because of one boy.

That was the closest Isabell had ever gotten to being praised by Cantabile, and it wasn't at all what she thought it would be. Strangely the part where Cantabile said she had failed in preventing Isabell from becoming a maggot like the rest had sounded more like a compliment than her saying she had become a strong and independent woman.

Despite all the pain she went through after going against Cantabile's wishes and getting to know Morgan better, Isabell found she much preferred being a maggot to a mindless puppet.

* * *

"Too slow!"

Isabell easily dodged Alex's attack, side-stepping until she was behind the brunette. Alex turned and used both her new blades to guard as Isabell dealt her own blow, with just enough force to knock Alex on her back for the third time since their training session started.

"Ow!" Alex groaned as she sat up, rubbing her back, "Could you at least go easy? This isn't a contest, you know!"

Isabell smirked at her as Alex stood up and got into stance once again, "Would an enemy go easy on you? Besides, I _have_ brought it down a notch."

"Wha- At least bring down to a _normal person's _standard! Clearly one notch isn't enough!"

Isabell laughed, "Alright, fine, how about I just block for now while you get used to the new weapon?"

"Thank you."

As their training continued, Alex slowly started to get the hang of her new weapon. She managed to make a transition with enough of her old fighting style with her sword to the new dual blades that it wasn't too hard for her to figure a new style out after Isabell started going a lot easier on her.

After a few more moments of effortless blocking on Isabell's part, she decided to test Alex, lunging out at her with no warning. Alex's eyes widened in shock as she quickly dodged the attack and jumped back a few feet.

"I thought you said you were just going to block!"

"Always expect the unexpected in battle, my dear sister," Isabell smiled, "Besides, you were already doing a lot better."

Isabell had no doubts Alex would do well against other opponents, Isabell was just too experienced for her at the moment. Despite that, she had no doubts her younger sister would make a fine swordswoman one day.

Deciding she'd had enough of sparring for the day, Isabell sheathed her sword and started digging through her bag for the canteens of water she'd brought with her. Once she found them, she handed one to Alex, who took it gratefully, before grabbing one for herself.

After a short break, Isabell had Alex try to bring in Third Fonons into her new dual blades. Isabell had the blacksmith make them with a material specifically made to utilize the Fonon, so she wasn't surprised at all to see Alex have such an easy time holding the bright green fonons around her blades for a long amount of time with little effort. It also helped that she had been practicing for so long.

Before long, the sun was beginning to set, and they were forced to start heading back to the city. They were both getting hungry anyway, so they would have left whether it was starting to get dark or not.

"Good luck in St. Binah," Isabell told Alex as they made their way back into town, "I might get a job or two in the area when you're there, so it probably won't be too long before we see each other again."

"Great," Alex smiled, "I'd probably go insane with only Jade to talk to for a couple weeks."

...

"I never would have imagined myself wearing one of these," Alex said, taking one last look at herself in the mirror after putting her hair up in a bun, and then turning to face Guy, who sat at the end of her bed. Never in a million years would she have thought she would be wearing a Malkuth military uniform. One similar to the one Jade wore, with no helmet, making it clear she wasn't actually a soldier. So much had changed since she first left Baticul.

Guy nodded his agreement at the statement while he stood up, "I never imagined I would ever see you in one...or any military uniform, really."

Alex sighed, "I can't believe I have to leave. The timing couldn't have been worse."

Guy gave her a small smile, "Not necessarily. It'll only be for a couple weeks, right? And while you're there you won't have to worry about Cameron, either."

"Right. I guess I can at least be thankful I won't be around for that hearing. I can't stand those sorts of things, they're so boring."

Guy laughed, "Yeah, well, I don't think this one would be so boring with you directly involved. I'll send you a letter after it's over, telling you the outcome."

"Thanks. You can feel free to send me letters any other time though," she told him with a small blush, looking away from him, "It'll probably be weird, not seeing you every day."

Guy chuckled and pulled her into a short hug, "I'll miss you too. Try and at least have a bit of fun. Maybe make a friend or something...just, you know, try and pick a better one this time?"

"Shut up," she laughed, "Maybe I should just try and stay away from the guys that'll be there."

"I wasn't going to suggest that, but if you want to, that's fine by me."

Alex smiled up at him for a moment, "I should probably get going. Jade and the others are probably waiting for me by now."

"Right," Guy nodded, before giving her a quick kiss, "I'll see you in a couple weeks."

* * *

When the group had all met up at the entrance to the city and began in their trek towards St. Binah, things were a bit awkward. No one spoke at first, and Alex could feel most of the soldiers' eyes on her as she walked next to Jade. She'd attempted to be friendly with them when they first met up, but none of them seemed particularly happy to have her around, in fact, most of them seemed bitter.

Alex eventually got sick of all the stares she could feel, and began to trail behind a bit in hopes she would eventually end up at the back of the group where they wouldn't really be able to stare at her. She didn't get very far before one of them stuck out their arms and wrapped it around her shoulder, making her jump a bit out of shock.

"Don' worry about them," the soldier told her, and Alex instantly recognized her as the woman she met right after her run-in with Cameron the other day. Jade had said her name was Lyneya.

Lyneya removed her arm from Alex and took off her helmet before winking at her, "They're all just upset that you got a job workin' with the Colonel with no military experience."

"Is that all?" Alex asked, "Why does everyone get upset about that? If they really knew him, they'd be thanking me for being the one to spend all day with him instead of any of them."

"I heard that," Jade said from in front of them, without turning back, "Your words have hurt my fragile heart, Alex."

"Yeah, whatever," Alex rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn' be too worried about the others not talkin' to ya," Lyneya said, "In fact, I'm kinda jealous. They're all idiots, so ya might be better off not talking to any of 'em anyway. Especially that guy," she jabbed her thumb in the direction of the soldier directly behind her, "He's the biggest dumb-ass of 'em all. He's probably contagious, too, which explains how the others got to be such idiots."

"Lyneya, is it even in your system to be nice?" the soldier asked. Alex recognized his voice to be the one who was with Lyneya after the incident with Cameron, too.

"Nicer than any of the rest of ya," Lyneya told him, "At least I'm tryin'a be nice to the girl."

"Yes, and I'm sure _the girl_ has a name," the man removed his helmet as well and shook out his short, black hair before he and held out his hand for Alex to shake. "My name's Carolus."

"Alex," she replied as she took his hand.

"I know, you're pretty famous around the Malkuth Headquarters already. Let me introduce you to everyone," he put his arm around Alex's shoulder, and she had to wonder if anyone Jade chose to accompany them knew what personal space was, and began to point out a couple of the other soldiers behind them. She simply nodded along and let him speak about them, though she couldn't help but think she would be better off learning from experience. She wouldn't be able to retain any of the information, as she was so bad at putting names to faces, especially when she couldn't even _see_ their faces.

"...And the big guy in the back, his name's Oren," Carolus continued as he pointed out a soldier with a very large stature. The only person Alex had ever seen larger than Oren was Largo. "He doesn't really talk much. Actually, in the three years I've known the guy, I've never really heard him speak. I've been wondering lately if he can."

"...I can," Oren deadpanned from the back of the group, and Alex had to laugh at how red Carolus turned.

Lyneya shoved him hard in the back, "Now you've gone an' insulted 'im! Apologize, ya moron!"

"S-sorry, Oren," Carolus laughed nervously, looking a little confused about who to be more scared of: the dark-skinned woman yelling at him, or Oren, who didn't really show any signs of caring that much.

"Is there something going on between you two?" Alex asked, though she felt like she was prying too much after the words were out of her mouth. She had just met them, and that was a bit personal.

Both of them looked insulted that she would even say such a thing, and quickly protested.

"The idea of me bein' with him is idiotic in itself!"

Carolus looked a little hurt at Lyneya's words for a moment before turning to Alex, "Why would you care so much?" he asked, sidling up to her in a failed and awkward attempt at flirting. Alex only laughed at him again.

"Ya need to work on it," Lyneya said bluntly.

Carolus blushed, "I wasn't being serious anyway. I thought she was with that other guy who helped lower the lands, isn't he some kind of Malkuth noble now, too?"

"You mean Guy?"

"Yeah, him."

"Even if she wasn', a girl like her could do a helluva lot better than you," Lyneya smirked, and Carolus pouted in response.

"Come on, Lyn, that hurt. At least try to be nice to me for once? What've I ever done to you?"

"Don' call me Lyn!" Lyneya glared at him, "You know I hate it when you call me that!"

As Carolus and Lyneya continued their arguing, Alex heard Jade say something about a better choice in the soldier accompanying them as he continued to walk in front of them.

Alex wasn't sure what to expect when she was told she was going to St. Binah, but it definitely wasn't this. She was almost certain she would have to spend the next few weeks being completely serious most of the time, but so far that didn't appear to be the case.

Somehow, it felt almost normal, and she really began to miss her friends and the time they spent traveling around Auldrant. She felt almost as if she was replacing everyone except for Jade as they made their way to St. Binah, and she found herself wanting to see everyone all together again. And she certainly didn't expect to start missing Guy so soon.

Alex sighed and tried to break out of her thoughts, watching as Lyneya and Carolus continued to argue. How was it that watching them did nothing but remind her of Tear and Luke? Lyneya was nothing like Tear, she was maybe more similar to Anise, only a lot older...

Okay, apparently comparing her new group members to her friends wasn't helping, so she tried to think of different things. She tried to think of what they were going to be doing in the time spent in St. Binah. Maybe she would get to know her new group better over the next few weeks, and they would remain friends in Grand Chokmah when they returned?

She wasn't sure about the others yet, but she was looking forward to getting to know Lyneya and Carolus, anyway, considering they were so far the only ones to talk to her.

"Alex," Jade suddenly spoke up from the front of the group, "Could you come here for a moment?"

"What is it, Colonel?" Alex asked as she caught up to him.

"There's something I need you to do for me once we reach St. Binah."

"Alright..."

"Before we left, I got a letter from the Field Marshal. Apparently, his son has been having some difficulties with a few of the newer recruits. They have complaints about people who had no intentions of becoming soldiers, but had no choice but to be enlisted due to the city's need for soldiers. In their words, they feel as if their recruitment is going against what the Score would have said, had Ion not ordered it to no longer be read."

"So those recruits have been causing trouble?"

"Yes. They've been interfering with military operations, and have been causing problems elsewhere. Their actions have also proven to cause doubt for the other new recruits who didn't at first have problems with being recruited."

"Is this why you were called to St. Binah in the first place?" Alex asked, "So you could scare them into cooperating?"

"I believe that may have been their intention, yes. But I won't have enough time on my hands to watch them all the time. On top of that, I fear that these troublemakers will be unlikely to listen to even me," Jade continued, "While some of them may listen to the people who defeated Van and saved the Outer Lands from destruction..."

"Others may not want to listen to people they could easily blame for abolishing the Score," Alex finished with a sigh. It already appeared that their task would be much harder than she first thought.

"Precisely," Jade nodded, "I thought you should be warned. I'm almost certain we'll be having problems with these recruits. I've received their names from General McGovern so we would know who they are right away. Once we've been introduced, keep your eye on Ryan Terzi, and Garrot Mcmahon. If you see them up to anything that could cause problems, tell me or someone else with authority immediately."

"So you want me to spy on them?"

"In a manner of speaking. You will have other duties assigned to you, I do believe you could be useful in training the recruits as well. However, I will ask that you do watch those two closely whenever we're not all together in one group. I'm afraid I really don't have time for pointless shenanigans."

"Will do," Alex nodded before looking back at the group behind her, "Will the others be told about this beforehand too?"

"I will inform them shortly before we arrive in St. Binah."

* * *

Training began the morning after they arrived in St. Binah, and it didn't take long at all for Alex to figure out who the troublemakers were.

Over the first few days of training, they did nothing but complain about how they shouldn't be there, and they purposely went against Jade' orders just for the hell of it. It was clear Jade, as well as all of the others, were getting tired of them. Lyneya had actually taken to threatening them to get them to do a job. It may not have been going along with the rules, but nobody seemed to care about how she managed to get them to do something, as long as she was capable of it.

After training, Alex spent a lot of her time keeping an eye on the two of them. She'd caught them trying to sabotage other training sessions in various ways, and somehow managed to put a stop to a lot of the disastrous fon machines they created, and with every time she had to figure out how to stop something from going off, or just straight-up destroying it herself if it was small enough, she wished Guy were there to help her with these two. He would have had an easier time figuring these machines out, and it might have actually been considered fun for him, while it was just a huge pain in the ass for her.

Ryan and Garrot quickly caught onto her tailing them and interfering with their 'works of genius' as they called them, and began setting more traps and distractions for her as they worked on their bigger projects. Shorty after this, Alex spoke to Jade, and he enlisted Lyneya and Carolus' help to make things easier for her. He was having a much easier time when they weren't causing trouble, and he preferred to keep it that way as soon as possible.

Once the boys realized Lyneya was now with Alex, they started to tone it down, but didn't stop altogether. As the days continued to go by, Alex thanked Yulia she now had Lyneya's help, as her job was a lot simpler. She still couldn't sleep at night for worry that Ryan and Garrot would be waiting until nighttime to strike, but it was a start.

After a couple more days, Lyneya got the idea of taking the two of them for some private training. Alex thought she was probably hoping to literally beat some sense into them. Normally, she would have been against it, but the two of them had irritated her so much that she didn't even think before agreeing to the idea.

Alex, Lyneya, and Carolus brought them a little ways outside the fallen city before challenging them to a spar. It didn't take very long at all for the three to beat them, even while going easy on them, and Alex had to admit that it did help a bit with her stress.

"You guys have really got to take your training more seriously," Carolus told them, "It seemed like you weren't even trying. You won't make very good soldiers at this rate.

"We keep telling you we don't want to be soldiers!" Garrot shouted from the ground.

"How do you think it would feel to not be given a choice in your own life?" Ryan demanded, and at that Alex finally snapped.

"Really? Do you think I _asked _to lose my parents in the Hod war?" she asked nonchalantly, and Ryan widened his eyes, probably aware that what she was about to say would make any argument he had to throw at them invalid.

"N-no-"

"Do you think, that after that war was over and my parents were dead, that I chose to be adopted by the very man who led the attack on Hod? Do you think that I can't go a single day now without feeling horrible about ever forgetting the face of the people who easily gave up their lives for the small chance of saving mine? Do you think I don't regret not being able to spend the past sixteen years with my sister, instead of living a life that never should have been mine?"

"Um, Alex..."

"Not now, Carolus!" she snapped, continuing to yell at the two boys who now looked as if they were afraid she would literally bite their heads off. They had pissed her off, deprived her of sleep, and stressed her out long enough that she didn't even care as she yelled, "Let me tell you boys something. You may not have been given the choice to become soldiers, but you _are_ being given the choice to learn how to survive a battle. Do you think everyone's out there training their asses off because it's fun? No, they're doing it because they want to be able to come home at the end of the night to their families-"

"Alex!"

Alex groaned before turning to demand what Lyneya wanted, but stopped short when she saw why she was being interrupted. Her eyes widened at what she was seeing, and any thoughts of shouting at the boys who had made her life hell over the past few days vanished from her mind.

A platoon of Kimlascan soldiers were marching in their direction, and they didn't look like they were there on friendly terms.

Alex quickly turned to Garrot, "Go get reinforcements."

"But-"

"Now."

Garrot wasted no time in running in the direction of the city, but Ryan stayed behind, pulling out his sword and shaking like a leaf. He obviously wasn't going to be any help in a battle.

"You go with him," Alex told him as she, Lyneya, and Carolus drew their weapons.

Ryan looked at her before shaking his head, "You guys can't fight alone."

"An' it doesn' look like you can fight at all," Lyneya bit back, "Go get help."

Ryan hesitated before nodding and running after Garrot. Alex knew General Frings was helping in the city. The three of them wouldn't be able to hold the Kimlasca soldiers off for long, but they could at least hold them back until others arrived.

What was going on? What about the peace treaty? Alex knew Natalia definitely wouldn't allow for any violations of that, and she doubted Ingobert would either. This wasn't right.

As the soldiers drew closer, Alex noticed that very few of them actually wore equipment, and they all looked so...lifeless. Like puppets.

What the hell was going on?

* * *

_**A/N: Alex overreacted a little to Ryan's comment near the end, but they had been testing her limits for so long that she just had to snap. I would have showed a bit more of the transgression into her snapping like that, but if I had added any more scenes this chapter would be way too long. It's almost 8000 words as it is. On top of that, she hadn't really snapped that much since finding out about her past, so I figured this would be a good time for her to snap at them as well as change their perspectives on things.**_


	49. The God Generals Live

_**A/N: Finally this chapter's finished! It took me forever. For the past four days I've been putting a few hours into it expecting it to be finished at the end of the night, but I kept thinking of scenes I needed to add so it just got longer and longer until it became my longest chapter yet at just under 12,000 words. O.o I shortened a couple scenes from the game because this chapter was just getting out of hand and I desperately wanted it out of my face. There's a lot of dialogue in this one, so be warned.  
**_

_**One of the reasons this chapter took so long is because I'm plotting ahead all my future chapters so I don't have to worry about what I'm going to do or when things happen later on, so it'll hopefully make updates faster in the long run once I've finished that.**_

_**Note that I've been having some issues with the 's', 'shift', and some other random keys on my keyboard, so there may be a few typos concerning those in this chapter.**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

* * *

_Chapter 49: The God-Generals Live  
_

"Have you been keeping in touch with the others?"

"Not really," Luke sighed somewhat bitterly in response to Tear's question. "Father kept their letters from me, or I would have."

What right did the Duke have in keeping those letters from him? It was bad enough he was imprisoned in the manor for the first seven years of his life, the last hing he wanted to do after returning from the Absorption Gate was go right back to his old, boring life.

He had been miserable in the manor, each day he spent alone he was slowly driven a bit more crazy due to the fact that his only companion was Mieu, who drove him insane no matter where they were.

Silence fell between the two teens as they slowly made their way to Yulia City's newly built port. Since the Outer Lands were lowered and the miasma receded into the core, Teodoro had decided that the city needed a real port, since there would no doubt be travelers interested in a city they hadn't even known existed once everything had finally settled down.

"Have you heard from the others recently?" Luke asked Tear, "I don't think the letters I read were very recent. I don't know if anything else has happened lately."

"What did the letters say?"

Luke thought for a moment, remembering the contents of the letters, "Anise said things were pretty crazy in Daath, Guy's walking rappigs, and he built a mansion for him and Alex to live in...And Noelle said that Sheridan's recovering from the attack, but she brought me here so we've already caught up. I didn't get anything from Jade, but both Alex and Guy mentioned him in their letters."

Tear nodded, "I don't think much has happened since then, to be honest. The last letters I received from everyone didn't hold anything too important in them."

"Oh...Okay."

"We'll see Anise in Daath soon, Master!" Mieu squeaked, hopping up and down as he tried to keep up with Luke, "So it won't be too long until you can catch up with her!"

Despite how Mieu's voice still easily annoyed Luke, he couldn't help but smile down at the Cheagle as the three of them boarded the Albiore. They had intended to leave in the early hours of the morning, and had finally gotten around to it at about seven o'clock. They would hopefully reach Daath at about nine or ten, and have plenty of time to catch up with Anise and Ion.

"Right, then let's get going to Daath."

* * *

"...And so, this stone lists the victims. That concludes the explanation of the monument!"

Upon entering Daath, Luke and Tear took notice of Anise immediately. She stood with a young blonde woman in front of the stone monument at the entrance to the city. They slowly approached them, just as the blonde handed Anise a small amount of gald and thanked her before leaving a very happy looking Anise behind.

"Anise, you know it's forbidden to take offerings outside the institution," Tear scolded with her arms folded across her chest as they stopped in front of Anise.

Anise was shocked by their sudden appearance. She groaned, "Tear! Ohhh, please let it go, just this once!"

Tear shook her head, fixing a stern gaze on the younger girl, "No."

Anise stared at the ground, "I have to pay back the debt Papa and Mama were tricked into! Please, Tear?"

"That's some story," Luke said quietly.

"Yeah, don't you feel bad for me?" Anise asked, looking up at Tear with wide eyes, "Because of that debt, any income my family makes is taken away! Can't you just let this go?"

Tear sighed, "I do feel bad for you, but that doesn't make it okay to take money from others."

"Boo..." Anise looked irritated beyond belief, "Fine. I'll go get it back." She started to run to catch up with the woman from before.

"Oh, wait!" Luke called after her, "Can you get us an audience with Ion? We want to see him."

"Sheesh, you people are so demanding!" Anise called back, "Sure. I'll catch up in a bit, wait for me at the cathedral."

She wasted no time in dashing off after the woman again, leaving Tear and Luke to head to the Cathedral.

"Anise hasn't changed," Luke smiled as they started off in the direction of the cathedral.

"She's still so cheerful!" Mieu added.

Tear still looked a little upset, "Yes. Though tricking innocent people out of their money is going too far."

"Come on," Luke tried, "You heard what she said. Her family has it rough, is taking a few gald really that bad? It didn't look like that woman even minded-"

"That's hardly the point, " Tear interrupted, "What Anise just did is strictly forbidden by the Order, it's that simple. I can't just turn a blind eye to that."

"It's wrong!" Mieu agreed.

Luke didn't feel like pressing things any further, so he kept quiet until they reached the cathedral and a new topic of conversation entered his mind.

"Hey, so what happened to Mohs, anyway?" he asked Tear, remembering the stout, horrible man as they entered the cathedral.

"He was removed as Grand Maestro," Tear answered, "He's being detained, awaiting a court of inquiry."

"So then who's in charge of the Order now?"

Tear gave him an odd look, "Fon Master Ion is, and always has been the highest ranking member of the Order of Lorelei."

"Oh," Luke scratched his nose in embarrassment, "Right. I just forgot, with Mohs acting like he was in charge all the time."

Tear went to respond, but the doors to the cathedral opened and Anise came rushing in before she could say anything.

It looked like she had run the whole way, as she was out of breath when she reached them. "It's so good to see you guys again!" she said with a cheerful smile on her face, "Especially you, Luke! I sent you a letter, but you never wrote back. What've you been up to?"

"Oh, yeah," Luke replied, "Sorry. My father kept everyone's letters from me until I left the manor."

"Really?" Anise asked, tilting her head, "Oh well. Ion was worried about you, too. He said he hoped defeating Van helped you find the answer you were looking for."

Luke sighed, "Well...actually..."

Anise groaned, "Oh, brother. I wish I had the time to mope around like you. Pull yourself together."

"Things are still hectic here?" Tear asked.

Anise nodded, "Everyone keeps asking us to read the Score! Not to be pessimistic, but a religious overhaul looks pretty impossible."

"They all still want to know the Score..." Luke said quietly, hadn't it been made pretty obvious that the Score had been set off track?

"They all think that falling into the Qliphoth was part of the Order's Closed Score," Tear told him, as if she had read his mind. "They believe the Score is still on track."

"Ion must be having a hard time," Mieu said as quietly as he could in his high-pitched voice.

"I hope he doesn't wear himself out again," Luke said.

"Oh, that's right, you guys wanted to talk to Ion, right? He's in his room."

"Okay, let's go."

They set off without delay, none of them really having something to say. Anise still seemed to be a little bitter about Tear interfereing with her getting that money from before, so things were a little awkward as they went. Luke wanted to distract Anise from that so things could be less awkward, so he asked her the first question that came to mind right after they used the fonic glyph to reach the staircase leading to Ion's chambers.

"Hey...You haven't heard anything from Guy or Alex lately, have you?" he asked, turning to Anise.

"You're wondering if they're finally dating or not?" Anise asked him, "Nope, last time Alex sent me a letter Guy was still too chicken to ask her out. But that was a few weeks ago, so..."

Luke nodded. He was hoping Guy would have finally asked her out like he said he would after they went to Grand Chokmah, but that didn't seem to be the case. He just wanted those two to stop beating around the bush and be happy together, but it didn't look like that could happen without someone to forcefully make them see that they would be happy together.

"Hey," Anise said, snapping Luke out of his thoughts, "How about we make things interesting?"

Tear immediately sighed beside Luke, and he knew why. He turned to Anise, "You mean like a bet?"

Anise grinned, "Yep! So how about it? I could always use the gald."

Luke rolled his eyes. He felt bad betting on his best friend's love life, but...

"Sure, why not?"

Tear looked a mix of affronted and disappointed at his decision, but Anise looked the happiest he'd ever seen her.

"Luke-"

"Great!" Anise interrupted Tear, who was now watching them both with a stern gaze, "Okay, so...I bet that Guy's been too chicken to ask Alex out, so she finally had to ask him out instead. You?"

Luke thought for a moment, that did seem possible to happen, though he knew that Alex was pretty stubborn . "I bet...that Alex hasn't asked him out, and he's still too busy making a bunch of excuses about his phobia to do anything either."

"You do realize you're both betting against Guy?" Tear asked with a sigh, her hand on her forehead.

"Safest bet," they both shrugged, though Luke at least hoped neither of them were right.

"You want in on this, Tear?" Anise asked, looking hopeful for the possibility to win more money, "You did just make me give back my earnings, so...you kinda owe me."

Tear sighed, seeming to not even want to repeat what she had told Anise about how what she was doing was forbidden, "I'm not interested."

"Fine," Anise shrugged before turning eagerly to Luke, "So what do I win if you lose?"

Luke thought for a few moments, trying to find a bet that wouldn't do any financial damage to Anise if she lost.

"How about whoever wins gets to be Mieu's master until he can go back to Cheagle Woods?"

Tear's head immediately snapped in his direction; she looked almost like she was regretting her decision to stay out of the bet, but didn't say anything.

"Whaaat?!" Anise looked insulted, "You want to bet _Mieu?! _That's so lame! You're rich, aren't you? Put a few thousand gald on the line, at least!"

"How would you expect to give me a few thousand gald?" Luke asked her.

"You would take money from a cute little girl?! What's wrong with you!"

"I'm not betting any of my parents' money!" Luke told her, "It's Mieu or nothing!"

"Fine," Anise grumbled, "I guess it wouldn't be so bad having Mieu..."

"Please don't fight over me!" Mieu squeaked.

Luke didn't have the heart to tell him that wasn't exactly what was happening, and thankfully they reached Ion's chambers before he had to.

"Luke! Tear!" Ion said happily from behind his desk as they all entered the room. "It's good to see you again!"

"I'm glad to see you're doing okay," Luke said as Ion got up to approach them.

"Yes, I haven't used any Daathic Fonic artes since our journey, so I'm in good shape. How have you been?"

"He sounds like he's pretty messed up," Anise shrugged.

"I am not messed up!" Luke protested, glaring at the younger girl.

"You're still troubled?" Ion asked, to which Luke sighed.

"What do you think you would be doing if your original were still alive?"

"Are you concerned about Asch?"

"How could I not be?"

Ion closed his eyes and though for a few moments, "This is only hypothetical...But I would want to work to inform the world about replicas."

Luke smiled, "That sounds like you."

Ion nodded and returned the smile, "I realized on our journey that I didn't want to be someone's substitute. Though it certainly took me long enough."

"Fon Master," Tear spoke up, "I've brought a report regarding the Planet Storm's increased activity." She handed him the report, and he quietly read over it for a few moments.

"Large-scale consumption of Seventh Fonons?" he asked, "That's the cause?"

Tear nodded, "Yes. Although we still aren't sure of what it is that's consuming the fonons. But we do know that increasing the strength of the Planet Storm was part of my brother's plan."

"And Master Van's sword was taken from the Absorption Gate, too," Luke added.

"Do you think Van may still be alive?" Ion asked.

Tear shook her head, "Not my brother, but I do believe the plan he left behind could still be alive."

"I wonder why he was so intent on erasing every trace of the Score..." Luke muttered, and they all thought for a few moments before Anise spoke up.

"Uh oh! Ion, the Maestro Council meeting is about to start!"

"Oh, that's right," Ion said, looking a little disappointed that their time to catch up was so short, "I'm sorry, I'm out of time. But I want to see you off."

"Please don't let us keep you," Tear tried, but Ion shook his head.

"Please, I want to. Let's go."

They all left Ion's room together and made their way through the maze of a cathedral to the exit. Luke didn't know where he and Tear were going to go next as they left the cathedral. They could maybe go to Grand Chokmah next? It would make sense, seeing as all three of the remaining group members he had traveled with lived there.

He was looking forward to seeing Guy and Alex, he wasn't so sure if he would really be happy to see Jade again.

Luke looked up from the ground he had been staring at and was immediately faced with someone he wasn't expecting to see.

"Guy?!"

"Luke?!" the blonde in question replied, looking just as shocked as Luke felt, "Why are you here?!"

Luke didn't expect to see Guy as soon as they left the cathedral, but he definitely wasn't complaining. Guy was one of the members of their group that he had missed most in the manor. He was most surprised to see him in something that definitely wasn't the servant's uniform he wore back at the manor, but when he thought about it, there was no reason for him to continue wearing that. The newer clothes suited him well anyway.

"That's my line!" he said, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, actually..." Guy trailed off, and his blue eyes quickly scanned who was with Luke, "Oh, Ion's with you, that's convenient!"

"Did you need to speak to me?" Ion asked as Guy finished ascending the stairs leading to the cathedral and stopped right in front of them.

"I've come on behalf of the Malkuth House of Lords. There's something I'd like to inform you of, but would it be better to follow official procedure?"

"I don't have much time," Ion replied, "It's fine to tell me here. That's why they sent a friend of mine, isn't it?"

"Very perceptive," Guy told him, "I have two things to report. First: Dist has broken out of Grand Chokmah penitentiary." He paused to let that sink in. It was safe to say everyone was shocked by the news, "Second: It seems that Dist attacked the ship carrying Mohs to his hearing. When a Malkuth Navy ship found it, the crew had been wiped out, but no trace of Mohs' body was found."

"Does that mean Dist rescued Mohs?" Tear asked, her visible eye wide in shock.

"Looks like it," Guy told her. "Anyway, please be aware of the possible danger."

"I wonder if it was Dist who took Van's sword from the Absorption Gate," Luke thought aloud.

"Someone took his sword?" Guy asked, now shocked himself.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Luke said, "Asch seems to be looking into Lorelei and stuff, too."

"Asch..." Guy said, "He never did return to Baticul, did he?"

"How did you know that?" Luke asked.

"Alex ran into him in Grand Chokmah, he warned us to keep an eye on the God Generals. That's how I found out about Dist's breakout so quickly."

"Did he say anything else?" Luke asked him.

Guy thought about it for a moment, "Not really... I think Alex said he mentioned going to St. Binah, but I think that was it."

Luke thought about Guy's words. Asch probably would have heard Lorelei back when they were lowering the lands, too. If he could catch up to Asch, maybe he could make sense of what Lorelei had been saying to him.

"Luke?" Tear asked, "Is something wrong?"

"I'm going to St. Binah!" Luke announced, "I have to go find Asch."

"Then let's go together," Guy suggested. When Luke gave him a questioning look, he explained, "His Majesty has asked me to look for Asch, too."

Luke smiled, he was happy to have Guy traveling with him again, even if it would just be for a short time. "Sure thing, Guy. Thanks."

"Um, Ion?" Anise spoke up, "Could I go with them?"

"By yourself?" Ion asked. Luke could understand why he looked confused, he himself was surprised that Anise would willingly suggest being separated from Ion. "Naturally, I don't mind. I'm concerned about Asch's words, too."

"Yes," Tear agreed, "He didn't say 'Watch Dist', he said 'Watch the God-Generals'. He may know something."

* * *

They had only been reunited for a few minutes, and already Luke felt it was strange being around Guy without Alex anywhere in sight. For the longest time in the manor, one of them was rarely seen without the other two, and during their travels, Guy and Alex only grew closer.

Sometimes Luke felt like the third wheel, especially after their move to Grand Chokmah, even if he knew well why they left Baticul. Sometimes it did feel like they had abandoned him, even when the logical part of him knew they would never do that, or mean to make him feel like that at all.

He was surprised no one had really asked about her absence after they had left Daath, but everyone seemed to have other things on their minds. Even Luke had Asch on the mind as well, but now that they were on the Albiore and headed for St. Binah with nothing to really preoccupy them, Luke kept looking in Guy's direction as if expecting Alex to suddenly appear out of nowhere.

"Alex is in St. Binah with Jade," Guy explained with a laugh after Luke had looked in his direction for the sixth time, "You look so shocked to see me without her. It's not like one of us would die if the other weren't around or anything!"

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Luke asked.

"Come on, Luke, I've known you your whole life. You're an open book."

"Yeah, whatever," Luke shrugged, "So why's Alex with Jade anyway?"

Before Guy could answer, Anise cut in, turning around in her seat and staring directly at Guy.

"Speaking of Alex, in her last letter she said you hadn't asked her out yet! What's taking you so long! She's not gonna wait forever, you know!"

Luke watched Guy closely as he replied, "We've been too busy for anything like that," he told Anise. "You should know more than anyone else that things have been crazy, I thought you had it pretty rough in Daath."

"Yeah, in _Daath_," Anise replied with a shrug, "Last time I checked, you two weren't living there!"

Luke had to agree, "Come on, you guys already live together, what's taking you so damn long?"

"I haven't really gotten over my phobia yet!" Guy tried, using the first excuse that came to mind, "It's a little hard to have a relationship with someone I still have trouble going near!"

Anise groaned, "_Ohhh_, you had to mention the phobia, didn't you?" she shrugged, "Oh well, it's not like anything really big was at stake."

"You're probably glad now that I didn't want to bet a few thousand gald."

"I still can't believe you would take money from a little girl! You're already loaded!"

Luke went to reply before Guy interrupted him, he had almost forgotten he was there.

"Wait...you were betting on us?"

Luke felt really guilty as Guy stared at them, he could tell Anise felt a little guilty too by the expression on her face. An awkward silence filled the room as Luke tried to think of something to say to Guy. "I'm sorry, Guy-"

"Why the hell would you guys bet _Mieu_, of all things?"

"That's what I said!" Anise cried, "I think Luke was just scared of losing a few thousand gald to me."

Guy smiled, "Nah, I don't think that's it. I think he was more scared of _winning_ a bet like that against you."

Anise frowned slightly before turning around in her seat and crossing her arms.

"So what's been happening with everyone else lately?" Guy asked, "Anything new?"

Luke smirked at his friend, knowing he was trying to change the subject to something that didn't have to do with Guy and Alex.

"Sheridan's almost completely recovered from the attack by the Oracle Knights," Noelle said.

"That's great, Noelle," Guy replied.

"Yes," Tear said, "I was wondering how things were doing there."

"Yes, well," Noelle started, "It was a little rough when we started the rebuilding process without my grandfather and Tamara there to head things, but Aston managed to take charge pretty well on his own. I was also able to visit everyone's graves after we returned from the Absorption Gate, and we gave them all a proper send-off, too. I think that made me feel a lot better about things."

Everyone was happy to hear it.

They exchanged more small talk during the rest of the trip, sometimes talking about important things like how Ion and Tritheim were dealing with the people continuing to want Score readings, or how Tear was feeling and if her condition had gotten any worse, and sometimes more trivial things like how Tear had written all her letters to sound like situation reports.

Eventually, the topic of choice landed on cooking.

"I've actually kind of missed your cooking, Anise," Luke admitted, to the young girl's delight.

"Really?!" she asked, her eyes lighting up, "And you eat really fancy meals all the time in the manor! This must mean my strategy's working!"

"Your strategy?" Tear asked, though by the look on her face, she probably didn't really want to know.

"Of course," Anise nodded, "After all, the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I can't believe my cooking actually landed me the Duke's son!" she giggled, "I'll become your bride anytime, Luke, all you have to do is ask!"

Tear looked a little annoyed now, while Luke tried his hardest to back out of what he said. He immediately turned to Guy to help him out of the situation.

"A little help here, Guy?"

Guy apparently heard Luke invite him to make fun of his cooking skills. Luke would have appreciated a better change in subject.

"Yeah, whatever. From what I remember, everything _you_ made had some kind of dead sea creature in it," Luke put his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair as Guy laughed at his weak attempt at an insult, "How does living with Alex even work, anyway? Doesn't she hate seafood?"

Guy shrugged, "Like I said before, we're both pretty busy, so we're usually too tired to do any cooking ourselves. We normally go out to eat, actually."

Silence.

"So you two go out for dinner all the time...but you're not actually dating?" Luke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You guys are so lame," Anise deadpanned, voicing the redhead's thoughts.

"Hey, come on!" Guy protested, "I _told_ you, we don't have any time for that kind of thing!"

"Why, what have you been doing?" Luke asked, "Walking rappigs can't take up that much of your time, can it?"

Guy looked like he was trying hard to not turn red at the comment while Anise giggled at him, "I've been doing more than just that! The House of Nobles and Emperor Peony have been keeping me busy with a lot of other things, too. And whenever I got some free time, Alex was usually helping Jade out in his office or training with her sister."

"Why would she help Jade?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.

Anise piped up, "She said in her last letter that Peony offered her a job working for the colonel."

"I heard the same thing," Noelle added from the pilot's seat, "I was sort of hoping for her sake that she was just kidding to get a reaction out of us.

"And she _accepted_ the job?!" Luke asked, incredulously, "_Seriously_?"

"Yeah, I know," Guy laughed, "I actually thought she was joking when she first told me, too."

"So that's why Alex isn't with you," Tear said, "I was wondering why she would join the colonel in St. Binah."

"We'll probably see her while we're there," Luke said, failing to hide his excitement at the thought of seeing Alex, he would feel strange thinking he was this excited to see Jade, "We can ask her why she would want a job working with Jade there."

Guy laughed at him, "Well yeah, she'll be there, but..."

"But what?"

Guy paused, "I can't promise she'll be in a good mood. From the sounds of her last letter a couple of the recruits they went there to train are giving her a hard time. It sounds like she's pretty stressed out, and she hadn't exactly been living stress-free before they left either, so..."

"What do you mean?" Tear asked.

"It's kind of hard to explain, and I wouldn't really be able to explain it without sounding biased."

"We have a couple hours still before we reach St. Binah," Noelle called from the pilot's seat.

"Yeah, tell us," Luke insisted, curious about what Guy could be talking about.

"Was the colonel putting too much stress on her?" Tear asked, tilting her head.

Guy shook his head with a sigh, "No, it was nothing like that. It has to do with a guy she worked with-"

"Lemme guess!" Anise interrupted, placing a finger on her chin in mock thought, "You noticed that this guy she works with was being really nice to her and assumed he was hitting on her while she was oblivious to it?"

"That is a reasonable guess," Tear said, watching Guy for a reaction.

He didn't exactly look pleased with her assumption, but he wasn't altogether surprised either.

"I suppose you could-"

"Mieu... But why would that make her stressed?" Mieu squeaked, staring at Anise with his large, bright eyes.

"_Because_..." Anise said, taking a deep breath and holding her index finger in the air, "Then Guy would get really jealous because of this other guy moving in on his woman while Guy was being an idiot and not asking her out himself! _Then_ he would get overprotective and probably even tell her to avoid him even though she likes him because he's really nice to her-"

"It wasn't anything like that!" Guy protested before she could go any further, turning a bright shade of red.

"Are you sure?" Anise asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes!" he said adamantly, "Well, yeah some of what you said might be true-"

"So you're saying you were jealous?"

"I was not jealous!"

"Are you _sure_?"

"Anise," Luke finally said, looking like he was resisting the urge to laugh, "Just let Guy tell the story."

Anise pouted, "Boo. You're no fun."

"Go on, Guy," Tear told him.

"Right," Guy sighed, before launching into a quick explanation of the man, Cameron. At first it did sound like Guy was being paranoid, but once he explained he had caught Cameron trying to have his way with a protesting woman in an alleyway, Luke immediately changed his mind on the matter.

"Are you sure you're not just over-exaggerating?" Tear asked. Beside her, Anise looked like she was trying to decide between taking Guy's side, or making fun of him some more.

"He sounds like a jerk to me," Luke shrugged, "What did Alex do when she found out?"

"Well, she was definitely upset, and kept a closer eye on him whenever he was around after she found out. He ended up trying to make a move on her in the records room in Malkuth Headquarters practically the next day. In the end Jade had to push her into placing charges on him. He lost his job a few days after they left for St. Binah, which reminds me, I still have to tell her that. I can't remember if I sent her a letter about it or not, a lot has happened since then, with Dist and Mohs and all."

"Doesn't the Malkuth military have fraternization rules in place?" Tear asked, Guy looked a little upset that his attempt at a subject change didn't work. "The Oracle Knights do."

Guy shrugged, "Yeah, but Alex wasn't technically part of the military, she's more or less just an assistant, not a soldier or anything. Either way, he lost his job for it, so they must take it pretty seriously."

"So what did Alex do when he made his move?" Anise asked, tilting her head.

"Yes, I doubt she would have done nothing," Noelle added.

Guy looked like he was trying hard not to laugh, and Luke couldn't help but notice what sounded a lot like pride in his voice, "She said she slapped him hard enough for the room to echo. Two soldiers heard it from outside."

"You're happy because Alex hurt someone?" Mieu asked, eyes wide "Mieu..."

"I can't blame him," Anise shrugged, "Cameron was obviously trying to steal Alex from him."

"Cameron wouldn't be stealing her if Guy and Alex weren't an item!" Noelle pointed out, to which Anise nodded. Guy looked like he was getting pretty annoyed with the constant reminders that he hadn't yet asked Alex out.

"Don't we have anything better to talk about than that?"

* * *

Luke knew they went to St. Binah to search for Asch, but he couldn't help but look for any signs of Alex or Jade while they walked through the remains of the once beautiful and peaceful city. He found himself keeping an eye out for a person dressed in mostly purple, which should have been easy to spot in the mass of Malkuth soldiers wearing their usual blue.

He was mostly looking forward to seeing Alex again, he didn't exactly want to think about the idea of actually missing and wanting to see Jade. Luke noticed that Guy looked a little more upset than he should have when there appeared to be no signs of either of them, considering he had seen them a couple weeks before.

He wondered briefly if Guy was really telling the truth when he said they weren't a couple, but dropped the thought right away. Why would Guy lie about something like that? There wouldn't be any point in it.

The further they got into town, the more hectic things seemed. Soldiers were running around in every direction, taking orders from their superiors. Something must have happened, but Luke and the others were forced to try and ignore it for the moment. Their priority was finding Asch, then they could see if they could help out later. It wasn't like they had any business dealing with military affairs anyway, hardly any of them were even from Malkuth to begin with.

It wasn't too long before they found a familiar face, or rather, a familiar beard and a pair of thick white eyebrows that covered almost the entirety of the man's face.

Field Marshall McGovern took notice of the group immediately once they managed to fight their way through the small crowds of frantic soldiers. The small, old man wasted no time in approaching them, and managed to answer their biggest question without them even having to ask it.

"Ah, Luke!" the man called as he made his way over to them. He stopped in front of Luke and peered at him for a few moments, "Did you cut your hair again?"

"Huh?"

"Ah! So that was a wig earlier? What was that nonsense about 'my hair grows fast' earlier? Is Jade's sarcastic personality rubbing off on you?"

Luke fought the urge to facepalm. He couldn't believe his original came up with such a lame excuse. He had to be talking about Asch.

"Um, that guy who looks like me," Luke started, not wanting to explain he was a replica, "His name's Asch. Do you know where he went?"

Luke could only assume McGovern was confused underneath the mass of facial hair, "Is he your twin or something?"

"In a manner of speaking," Anise shrugged.

Guy was quick to reply to her, "Asch would pitch a fit if he heard that."

Luke tried to ignore what they said and responded to McGovern instead, "Yes, sir, something like that. Did he say anything?"

"He was asking if he could still get inside Shurrey Hill," McGovern said, "I would assume he's still there."

A small group of soldiers ran past the group and headed outside the city, McGovern watching them move.

"Is there anything else you wanted to ask," the older man asked, peering over Luke's shoulder at all the soldier still gathered inside the city, "I'm on my way to find out what's going on."

"No, that's everything," Luke told him, "Thank you for your time."

McGovern nodded and quickly passed them, heading into the groups of soldiers to find out what was happening.

"Shurrey Hill, huh?" Guy said thoughtfully, "Shall we go take a look?"

"Y-yeah," Luke hesitated. He still wasn't sure if he really wanted to see Asch.

The group was a bit uneasy about what was happening in the city, they wanted to know what was going on as well. Still, they chose to head out to Shurrey Hill and look for Asch right away, then they would try and find out more about what was going on after they had spoken to the surly ex-God-General and got some answers.

As they made their way back to the Albiore so they could fly to Shurrey Hill, Luke vaguely noticed Guy watching him a little more closely than he had been before, and the redhead had a feeling he knew why.

Luke felt really nervous at the thought of seeing Asch again. He knew his original wouldn't be thrilled to see him either, but Luke had to face him whether either of them wanted it or not. The sooner he figured out what Lorelei had been trying to say to him, the better.

...

It was easy for Guy to realize Luke was more depressed since the battle in the Absorption Gate. He had seen this coming, too. He had a feeling Luke would slowly become more depressed being alone in the manor with no one to talk to. He at least hoped Pere had been keeping him company along with Mieu.

Luke only grew more and more nervous and miserable as they got closer to Shurrey Hill's entrance. Guy could keep quiet about his friend's behavior no longer.

"Luke, are you scared to meet Asch?" he finally asked, right outside the entrance.

"A month apart, and you can still tell right away, huh?" Luke asked with a clearly fake smile as he turned around to look at his friend.

"Well, yeah," Guy told him, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "We've been together for years."

Luke looked away from him for a few seconds before suddenly asking, "Are you okay with the way things stand with my father, and Hod, and all?"

Guy didn't really know how to reply, "If I said I wasn't, would it change anything? It was war. Plenty of other people suffered, just like I did. At least I got to hear what really happened in the Hod War from the people responsible. Isn't it more productive for me to make sure something like that never happens again?"

"It sounds like you've been able to put your past behind you," Tear suddenly spoke up. Guy had almost forgotten she and Anise were there. Noelle had stayed behind on the Albiore, since there were still likely to be monsters in Shurrey Hill.

"I still have some lingering feelings," Guy admitted, "But it's not like there's any way to change things."

"That's my mature Count Gailardia!" Anise giggled, batting her eyelashes. Guy backed away from her a little. For some reason, it looked like Anise was really trying to make her advances more often than normal. He shook the thought from his head as the group entered the Shurrey Hill Sephiroth and immediately stumbled onto a less-than-pleasant sight.

"These knights are all dead," Tear announced after she checked the pulses of all the Oracle Knights' bloodied and broken bodies lying around the small platform right by the entrance. She shook her head, "I don't understand. The Oracle Knights are being reorganized, all units are meant to be on standby."

"Could it be by Asch's order?" Guy asked, "He is supposed to be here, after all."

"Asch was removed as Commander of Special Operations for breaking military procedure," Tear explained.

"I have a bed feeling about this," Luke said, "Let's get to the passage ring."

* * *

"Hand over the Key of Lorelei!"

Guy was filled with dread the second he heard the woman's voice. He knew exactly who it was without having to look at her, and yet he still couldn't believe his eyes when he saw her. How in the hell had she survived that avalanche?

"Major?!" Tear looked just as shocked as Guy felt, her visible eye wide in disbelief as Luke charged in Legretta's direction with his sword drawn. Both he and Asch, who had been facing off against Legretta alone before they arrived, attempted to slash at her while Tear had her distracted, but Legretta swiftly dodged the attacks without any difficulty. There was a reason she was called Legretta the Quick.

Tear threw one of her knives at the woman once she had recovered from the shock, but Legretta easily guarded the knife with one of her guns. "Your reaction was slow, Tear. I taught you to respond even in unexpected situations."

"How are you still alive?" Guy demanded, "You should have died in that avalanche!"

"Arietta's monster's rescued us," the woman replied before turning back to Asch, "This time, we will realize the Commandant's wish without fail!"

One of Arietta's flying monsters flew in over their heads without warning, catching everyone off guard. They couldn't do anything as Legretta grabbed hold of the monsters extended leg and they began to fly off.

"Asch, next time we meet," Legretta called as they made their leave, "I _will_ take the Key of Lorelei."

"Like hell you will!" Asch yelled after her.

He appeared to have received a couple serious looking injuries in his fight with Legretta, and refused to let Tear heal him. Tear didn't try to heal him again, everyone knew he was too stubborn to get any help from anyone.

"They must be trying to fulfill Van's vision for a replica world," Tear said, turning back to the others instead.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Luke asked Asch, extending a hand to help Asch up, as he had fallen to the ground right after Legretta left. Asch promptly smacked the hand away from him.

"He's as unfriendly as ever," Anise said.

Guy ignored her comment, though he agreed with it, "Did you know Legretta was alive?"

"It's not just Legretta," Asch snapped, "It's possible all of them are alive."

"But Sync fell into the core," Tear said, "If he's alive, then Van could be, too..."

They were all quiet for a moment before Luke spoke up again, "So you were investigating the core because Master Van could still be alive?"

Asch scoffed, "You're sure taking things lightly." He slowly stood up, his hand still holding the side of him that was bleeding through his uniform. "If you were connected to Lorelei then... Maybe it's just my fonon transformation."

It didn't look like anyone had a clue of what Asch was talking about. They all exchanged glances until they noticed Asch trying to sneak away.

"Asch," Luke called after him, "Hold on a second! What are you talking about? What do you mean, 'then'? When Lorelei said to set it free? What did that mean?"

"Exactly what you heard?" Asch replied harshly, "What are you, stupid? Lorelei is trapped."

"Trapped? Is it bad for it to be trapped?"

"The total volume of Seventh Fonons in the world will drop," Asch explained, annoyed, "When that happens, the Planet Storm will grow stronger to compensate, creating more Seventh fonons."

"That means the core's vibrations will get worse," Guy said, "The Tartarus alone won't be able to stop it!"

"Which means the miasma comes back?" Anise asked, "This is seriously bad!"

"Where is Lorelei trapped?" Luke asked Asch, who looked very much like he didn't want to be there.

"Lorelei told you," Asch snapped, "Try to remember on your own! Even without this, I'm already cleaning up after you! Don't cause me any more trouble, you useless replica!"

"You don't have to talk like that!" Luke called as Asch started to leave.

"Shut up!" The surly man shouted without looking back at them.

"Hey, wait!" Guy called after him, "His Imperial Majesty wants to talk to you!" No answer. Guy sighed, "The way he stops listening when he gets angry reminds me of a certain someone..."

"What does this all mean?" Tear asked, "If the God-Generals are creating a replica world, then the creation would consume a large amount of Seventh Fonons. Or was trapping Lorelei somewhere also part of the plan? And what's that Key of Lorelei that the Major was talking about? Could it be the same Key that Yulia was said to have used?"

"Asch probably knows," Anise said, "Let's follow him. He was hurt, so he might stop in St. Binah."

"Yeah," Guy said. They would probably be able to find Alex and Jade then.

Luke had played no part in the conversation since Asch left, and Guy immediately noticed that the redhead looked the most depressed he had ever seen him.

"Luke, stop looking like that," he told him, snapping Luke out of his thoughts, "Cheer up. You're not thinking you're inferior to Asch because you're a replica, are you?"

"What? Of course not!"

"Good. Okay then." Although Guy didn't quite believe him, he didn't push the subject any further, even when he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Luke went right back to looking miserable again when they continued back to the Albiore.

Guy couldn't help but sigh slightly, just what was he going to do with him?

* * *

"Prepare a carriage at once!"

Even though they couldn't see through the mass of Malkuth soldiers, Guy recognized the voice instantly. The group waited impatiently for the soldiers to all disperse before they could reach Jade. There were injured soldiers on stretchers in one corner of the city, and Tear dismissed herself from the others to go see if she could help the few healers that were frantically trying to help everyone. There were some soldiers still running around the city informing the ir superiors of something, probably what was going on that could cause everything in St. Binah to be so hectic.

"Colonel!" Anise shouted as the rest of the group made their way in Jade's direction.

"Well, hello there," Jade said as he turned to greet them. Just by looking at him, Guy could tell he was tired and stressed. What exactly was happening?

"We heard Alex was with you," Luke said, looking around for the brunette. Guy was a little surprised he hadn't noticed her absence before.

"And here I thought you were here to see me," Jade sighed with a shrug, "I have to say, I'm a little insulted."

"Where is she?" Guy asked, "And what's with all the commotion?"

"There have been attacks," Jade explained, his face becoming serious, "The smaller of the two took place right outside town. Thankfully, our soldiers were able to successfully hold them back and prevent them from reaching the city. Alex was involved in that, she's looking into the second attack for me now."

"Do you know anything about the second one?" Luke asked.

"Very little," Jade admitted, "All the Intel I have on the matter at the moment is that it was Malkuth's Chesedonia regional forces that were attacked, and it was during their training. General Frings and his men were sent to help in any way possible as soon as we heard about it. We haven't heard back from them yet."

Anise looked over at the area where they had their injured soldiers, "It doesn't look like St. Binah has a place to really take care of their injured yet, huh?"

"No," Jade sighed, "The city's still under reconstruction from after the fall into the Qliphoth, so it's hardly a surprise that they would be unprepared for this. We're carrying all the wounded to the capital."

"Who would attack the Imperial Forces anyway?" Guy asked.

"Exactly," Jade replied, holding his chin in thought, "Until recently, it would have been Kimlasca, but..."

"Natalia would bite your head off if she heard you say that," Luke told him.

"Then it will be our little secret," Jade said with a smile on his face that chilled Guy to his very core.

Anise giggled, "The Colonel looks scary, but he's a fun guy on the inside!"

"No, he's scary on the inside, too..." Guy and Luke replied in tandem.

"Anyway, speaking of Natalia..." Guy continued, "Has Asch been here? He was hurt, so we thought he might come back to town."

Jade shook his head, "I'm afraid I haven't seen him."

"There's obviously been a lot happening. Even if Asch had been here, he probably would have left immediately when he noticed the city in chaos," Tear said as she rejoined the group. When Guy looked over to where she had been helping their injured soldiers, he could tell that from just a few mere minutes of Tear being there everything seemed to be a lot more organized. For sixteen years old, she was really someone to be admired.

"He borrowed the Albiore III," Noelle reminded them, "Ginji probably already flew him somewhere else to recuperate, or something."

"I doubt Asch would actually take the time to recover," Guy said thoughtfully, "He's probably gone on to another Sephiroth."

Jade seemed interested at Guy's words, "The Sephiroth? Now why would he be going to them?"

Tear opened her mouth to explain, but before she could, she was interrupted.

"Colonel!"

Everyone turned their heads in the speaker's direction to see Alex rushing toward them. Guy still thought it was strange seeing her in a Malkuth uniform, and from the looks on the others' faces, they had a hard time recognizing her as well.

"Ah, there you are," Jade said as Alex stopped in front of him, "Have you learned anything?"

"Hardly," Alex replied bitterly. If she had noticed the others' presence, she didn't show any signs of it. Guy could understand that she must have been busy with the chaos around them, so he didn't think much of it, "It sounds like a lot of the soldiers involved in the second attack were either critically injured or killed. They haven't been able to get much info on it. All they've managed to figure out is they were from the same group responsible for the attack just outside the city."

"And who was responsible for that? I didn't quite get the chance to ask you."

Alex paused for a few moments, looking like she didn't want to say it, "They were wearing Kimlascan armor..."

Guy was completely confused about what was going on by now, and from what he could tell, the others were too. Luke especially looked confused and shocked at the mention of the Kimlascan forces.

"They were Kimlascan?" Jade asked, surprised as well.

"I don't know..."

"I'm afraid I don't understand. What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know!" Alex snapped, "Barely any of them were actually wearing Kimlascan equipment, and I'm pretty sure Natalia wouldn't just allow a violation of the peace treaty after all we went through to make the treaty happen in the first place! And I doubt even King Ingobert would be stupid enough to let someone like Mohs in his ear again after what happened last time."

"Well, then," Jade said, holding his chin in thought once again, "This is interesting..."

"Mohs..." Guy said slowly, "Hey, you guys haven't heard about Dist breaking Mohs out of the ship taking him to his hearing, have you?"

Both were quiet for a few moments, looking at Guy in shock and interest, Alex finally seemed to realize the others were even there, but either way, it wasn't a good time to catch up, so she kept her mouth shut.

"So both of them are free, then," Jade sighed, "Dist always did have the tenacity of a cockroach... This isn't good."

"Mohs is probably behind this, then," Luke said.

"Colonel Curtiss!"

The group turned to watch a male soldier with short, black hair hurrying toward them. He gave Jade the usual salut before speaking quickly.

"General Frings wants to see you, right away. He has information on the second attack, and from what the messenger said about the wounds he got form the battle, you won't have long to get there. The healers they had couldn't do anything to help him, so they moved him to Grand Chokmah."

"I see," Jade said, "We'll leave right away, thank you."

The soldier nodded before saluting once more and turning to Alex, "As if things weren't stressful enough, huh?"

"No kidding," she sighed tiredly, "Thanks, Carolus."

"See you back in Grand Chokmah sometime, yeah?" he asked with a smile, and Guy really hoped Alex hadn't gone and made friends with another Cameron, "Hopefully in better circumstances though. Lyn and I will probably be more fun without all this going on."

"Yeah, see you," Alex replied, giving him a small wave, "Say bye to Lyneya for me too, and thank her for helping me keep my sanity through the whole Garrot and Ryan fiasco."

"No problem," The soldier laughed before turning and hurrying off back into the mess of a city.

"Do you think Mohs is really behind this?" Tear asked once he was gone.

"We can figure that all out later," Alex said, turning back to Jade, "We should go back to Grand Chokmah to see General Frings, ASAP. Who knows how long he can hold on."

"If you're going to Grand Chokmah, we can take you. We owe him one from before..." Luke told them before turning to Noelle, who had been relatively quiet, "You can take us, right, Noelle?"

"Of course," the pilot smiled, "You don't even need to ask! I love flying, and I'm always honored to do so with you all on board!"

The group wasted no time after that, as it was getting dark by the time they finished the conversation, and they all hurried back to where the Albiore was landed right outside the city. Thankfully Grand Chokmah wasn't very far with the Albiore. They would most likely end up staying the night there.

Despite her enthusiasm, Guy always felt bad about dragging Noelle all over Auldrant. She really had nothing to do with any of this, and they always had to pull her into their problems simply because there was no one else who could fly the Albiore. And because of that, she was always in danger whenever they had to leave her behind while they went to deal with something; Dist had even kidnapped her once.

"Don't you ever get tired, Noelle?" Guy asked as they boarded the Albiore, "We're always asking you to fly someplace or another, do you even give yourself time to rest?"

"Of course," she smiled as she took her seat and started up the hover drive, "I always take naps whenever I start to get tired, I obviously can't risk falling asleep while flying, that would endanger you all, too."

"I don't think that's really what he meant, Noelle," Alex told her, "He's wondering if you ever feel like we're taking advantage of you."

Noelle thought for a moment, "Hmm... No, not really. I told you, I love flying, and it's not like you guys are just flying all over Auldrant for the sake of it, if it weren't for you all doing what you do, then the Outer Lands would have fallen and I wouldn't be alive to fly the Albiore in the first place. I appreciate what you've done for us, so I have no problem with flying you around. It's the least I can do to help you, really."

"Still, thanks, Noelle," Guy said, "If you hadn't been there to fly for us, we wouldn't have been able to make it to all the passage rings and the lands would have fallen anyway."

The others all nodded and thanked her as well, and it was clear the pilot was a little embarrassed by all the praise.

"Really, it's no trouble at all."

"But, you know..." Guy started, a wide grin slowly spreading across his face, "If you ever start to get tired of flying the Albiore, you could always teach me how to do it!"

Noelle laughed, "Maybe someday I'll have to take you up on that."

"He had a reason for bringing it up all along," Guy heard Anise mutter from behind him while Alex and Luke agreed.

Noelle had the Albiore up in the air in no time , and once the aircraft was steadily flying through the air with no turbulence, Alex got up from her seat.

"I might as well take the chance to change back into my other clothes. I still feel weird wearing this uniform."

"You _look_ really weird in that uniform," Luke told her, "No offense. With your hair up in a bun and everything, you don't even look like you anymore."

"Yeah, I actually thought you were someone else at first," Anise agreed.

Alex only smirked at them, "How do you think Natalia would react if she saw me in this?"

Luke laughed a little bit before Alex explained that they wouldn't have to get used to her wearing the uniform. She headed to the back of the aircraft and into the small cabin at the end where the beds were, carrying an item bag that most likely held her normal clothes.

Guy would have liked to follow and properly greet her, but he was forced to resist the urge while all the others were with him. He already disliked the idea of keeping their relationship a secret from them, especially since they kept pestering him about it anyway.

Would it really put that much more pressure on them if the others knew? He guessed they might feel more obligated to make it work if they did know, but with them constantly insisting that they should be a couple anyway, it couldn't make that much of a difference.

Oh well, it wasn't really a decision he could make by himself. If Alex wanted to keep it a secret for a bit, then he would play along. She would probably be upset if he told them without even warning her, but he honestly wasn't sure how much more he could take of them trying to make him ask her out when he already had.

A few minutes passed and Guy was having more trouble fighting the urge to go talk to Alex. Who knew when the next chance they had to be alone would be? After a couple more moments of internal struggle, he finally stood up, making the first excuse he could think of to excuse himself from the others.

"I just remembered, I never told Alex what happened to Cameron after she left. I should go do that now before I forget again."

"Don't come back until you ask her out!" Anise called after him, and Guy blocked out a comment Luke made in agreement.

As he left the small seating area, he heard Jade speak up, "That's odd...I could have sworn Alex mentioned he sent a letter on the matter soon after our arrival in St. Binah."

Guy pretended not to hear that, and moved a little quicker after the words were out so he could avoid questions. He knocked on the door leading to the small room Alex was in, hoping she was finished changing.

The door opened, and Guy entered and shut the door behind him.

"I was wondering if you were going to follow me."

It didn't take long for Guy to close the distance between them and plant a quick kiss on her lips before looking more closely at her.

The first thing he noticed was that she was back in her usual clothes, but now that he had a closer look at her, he also noticed just how tired she appeared.

"Have you been sleeping lately?" he asked, taking notice of the bags under her eyes.

She scoffed while taking a seat on one of the beds, "Hardly. I told you in my last letter about those two trouble making recruits, right? I haven't slept properly for days because of them," she stifled a yawn, "How've you been?"

She at least seemed a lot less on edge when they were alone, and he wondered if that was either because she was just that happy to get out of St. Binah, or if he just had that affect on her. He settled on the former as he sat down next to her.

"I'm not sure how I feel about keeping it a secret anymore," Guy admitted, "It's all I can take not to tell them when they make fun of me for not asking you out. It's hardly been a day since we met up, and it's been brought up in practically every conversation!"

Alex chuckled at him, "If you want to tell them, I won't stop you," she shrugged, "Personally, I'd like to see how long it takes them to figure it out on their own. Isabell and Jade already know."

"Really? Jade knows?"

"Obviously. It's _Jade_. I just assumed he knew. He'll probably be the one hinting at the others for his own entertainment until they finally figure it out."

"That sounds possible. So how was St. Binah?" Guy asked, "Before the attacks, I mean."

A small frown appeared on her face, "I don't really even want to think about it, let alone talk about it."

Guy smiled, "Alright, changing the subject then."

"Thanks."

Guy took the time to quickly inform Alex of all of Luke's latest insecurities, and how he seemed more miserable since they met up in Daath. Once he was finished speaking, Alex nodded and stood up before heading out of the room with Guy quickly following. Everyone watched as they rejoined the group, and Alex sat down right next to Luke, staring intently at him in silence for a few moments while he stared back in confusion.

"What's up?" Luke asked her hesitantly.

"I've been informed you're miserable."

"...What?"

"Guy told me you've been acting miserable since you guys met up. Life too boring in the manor with us gone, or what?"

"Something like that," Luke replied, looking away from her, "I just don't really feel like I belong there."

"Why don't you leave and take control of your own life, then?" Alex asked.

"I have a role in the manor," Luke explained, a little irritated. He'd probably already had this talk, "Even if I'm just a replacement for Asch, I at least have a place there."

"But you don't look like you've been happy there," Alex told him, while everyone nodded in agreement, "You're not in the manor right now. Were you really happier holed up in your room than you are right now with people who don't treat you like you're 'just a replacement'."

Luke didn't reply, he only looked at his feet.

"Well, I think you're pretty much welcome in Grand Chokmah if the Duke ever kicks you out - and I _know_ Lady Suzanne would _never_ allow that to happen. But I guess it's not really my place to say who's welcome to stay with us," she added, looking over to Guy.

Guy was quick to agree, "She's right though. If anything ever does happen with the manor, you're welcome to stay with us."

"I don't know..." Luke trailed off, "I don't think that's all. I mean, I don't even feel like 'Luke' half the time because I know it's really Asch's name. Even if he says he doesn't want it."

"If 'Luke' isn't good enough for you, why not try something else?"

Luke stared, wide-eyed at her for a few moment. "You really think I should? But I've been Luke my whole life."

"You keep contradicting yourself. You were just saying you feel like a replacement," Alex sighed, "Though I'm not really keen on a name change, maybe you'd feel less...inferior if you weren't 'Luke' anymore."

Guy wasn't too thrilled about the idea, and by the looks of it, the others weren't either, but he figured there had to be a reason for Alex to bring it up. It was probably some kind of mind game she was playing on him to make him realize he wasn't just a replacement to everyone. Van's opinions seemed to weigh more heavily on Luke than anyone else's.

Luke seemed to think the idea was worth a shot, and thought hard for a few minutes, though Guy could tell he still didn't seem to really be sure about the idea of a name change. After a few minutes, Luke listed off a few names he thought of and asked the others what they thought.

No one really knew how to tell him that none of the names he thought of really suited him, except for Alex, who seemed to be having a way better time with this than she really should have been.

She only laughed at him, "You're definitely not manly enough for 'Charles'."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Charles is Ancient Ispanian for the word 'manly'," Alex explained to him, "I'm saying you're definitely not a Charles."

"How about 'Hope'?" Anise asked thoughtfully while Luke glared at Alex.

Luke looked at her like she was sick in the head, "No way in hell."

Jade then spoke up and announced that he was partial to 'Clyde' which Guy thought was the lamest suggestion for a name so far. Of course that meant that everyone else thought it was a great name for him, while Luke was finally too irritated with all the horrible suggestions the others continued to make to keep going.

"Fine, never mind! I'll just stick with 'Luke'. Don't think I'm gonna have you guys around when I'm trying to name my first kid!"

Guy couldn't help but notice Alex's triumphant smile as Luke irritatedly looked away from the others with his arms crossed.

"Yeah sure," Alex smirked before turning to Tear, "Try not to let him pick out a horrible name, alright?"

Both Luke and Tear turned bright shades of red at the comment, while Guy and Anise laughed. It was clear Alex was proud of herself.

"Do you really have any right to say that?" Guy couldn't help but smirk a little at her, thinking back to when he had given her a stuffed rappig for her birthday years before, that he had later named Noah to avoid her giving it an awful name.

It was Alex's turn to blush, "I'm never going to be able to live that down, am I? And I told you I would put a lot more effort into naming an actual child!"

"Uh-huh, sure."

Since no one else really knew what they were talking about, Anise immediately jumped to the conclusion that Alex was pregnant and they were thinking of baby names. It took absolutely no time for both Guy and Alex to tell her otherwise, but Anise wouldn't drop the idea. Guy knew the younger girl didn't actually think Alex was pregnant, but was just trying to bug them. He was too tired of arguing with her to even try and get her to stop with her accusations.

Alex, on the other hand, seemed to be completely done with the subject at hand, and so changed it in an awkward and not-at-all smooth manner.

"Hey, so, speaking of names," she coughed, a hint of a blush still on her cheeks, "Have you guys ever thought about what your God-General names might be if you had for some reason been on their side?"

The others accepted the subject change despite how Anise seemed to want to continue bugging her, and Jade attempted to suggest a name for himself before Alex promptly interrupted him.

"No way. You already have the Necromancer title, that's good enough."

Jade feigned being hurt by her words, "You should be kinder to your elders, Alex."

"I would think she should be a bit more respectful to her employer, actually."

"That's true, I hadn't thought of that. You have my gratitude, Noelle. Alex? Did you hear her words of wisdom just now?"

"Yeah, yeah, I should be more respectful to you. We all know the likelihood of that happening."

As Guy sat back and watched the others all continue their bickering, he couldn't help but smile. He felt as if everything was normal again.

When he thought about it, it honestly scared him to know that _this_ was his definition of normal.

* * *

_**A/N: Sorry for the long wait...again. Hopefully I'll be updating more often again. I feel like the chapters just keep getting longer and longer. And I'm not sure how I feel about the amount of dialogue in this one, but the way I know a chapter's finished is when I'm completely sick of it, so I guess this is alright. xD  
**_

_**Reviewer responses, because I can, and I don't think I actually replied to too many by PM this time. My bad. I think I'll just do anonymous reviewer responses at the ends of chapters after this since this takes up a lot of space.  
**_

_**NinjaLadyHinata: Yours I covered in PM, because holy god I would add another 2000 words to the length of the chapter replying to it here. xD But yeah, keep up this time! I missed your reviews. ;A;**_

_**RisingXxLawliet: Thanks! I was worried about that scene, but I'm glad you enjoyed it and how Alex acted in it. You'll have to wait to see what happens with Morgan. ;)**_

_**RubyMoonz: So close! Chapter 50 is in my reach!**_

_**Yuna-TheAnimeLuver: I really like writing her backstory. xD I think after that there should only be a bit more though. Like maybe two more POVs of it, but I think they're pretty spread out because I've done a lot of her backstory lately.**_

_**Invadergirl1998: You'll have to keep reading to find out. ;)**_

_**Wildfiredreams: I think I might have Lyneya and Carolus make a couple more appearances, I really enjoyed writing them.**_

_**Azure Blue Espeon: I'm technically on my third runthrough of it now. I say technically because something happened with my PS3 that led to me having to reset the system data, so I had to start the game over from scratch after making it to the final dungeon on my second playing.**_

_**AnimeLover and Dr. Tom: Haha, thanks for the review, and I'm glad you're liking the story so far.**_

_**Riku Uzumaki: Sorry, but you still have to wait until the next chapter to find out if Frings dies or not. Thanks for the review. **_

_**TOA Fan D : Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far! Hope you enjoyed the update. ;)**_

_**Thanks for the reviews everyone! I hit 300, this is amazing! :D Keep 'em coming please, they keep me inspired! I promise I'll try to upload faster this time, if the next one works with me and isn't ridiculously long, that it.  
**_


	50. Future Without the Score

_**A/N: I uploaded a oneshot for this story onto my deviantart account (same username). The events take place in the future, and it's not at all meant to be taken seriously (Nam Cobanda Isle, Symphonia references, and amusement parks are involved). It was actually one of the prize oneshots won in the contest I had last year-ish, and until I uploaded it only the winner (who requested the amusement park scenario) had seen it. (Still thinking about having another contest, by the way.)**_

* * *

Chapter 50: Future Without the Score

Insulting.

It was insulting, the way the citizens of Chesedonia glared daggers at the Kimlascan princess and her guards as they quietly made their way through the desert town.

It was insulting, the way they all 'discreetly' whispered their thoughts to the person standing next to them on what Kimlasca had done.

It was insulting, the way they all _earnestly_ thought Kimlasca would shamelessly attack Malkuth's soldiers - and while they were training, no less. And to use a suicide bombing as their attack?

Her country would never commit an act so heinous.

Still, the princess held her tongue. The last thing she needed was to lower the reputation of both Kimlasca and herself even more, she knew the citizens of Chesedonia wouldn't believe her words if she even tried to tell them the truth. In their minds, all she was to them was a demon and a liar, giving them all a false sense of hope and safety in the peace treaty only to take it away a mere month later.

To say Natalia and the others had gone through a lot of trouble to put the peace treaty in place would be a major understatement. There was no way she or her father would stand for a violation in that treaty, and she was disgusted to see that even the Kimlascan citizens living in Chesedonia would think otherwise.

Upon hearing about the attack on the Malkuth Chesedonian Regional Forces, and that Kimlascan soldiers were involved, her first thought was that somehow Malkuth managed to frame her country.

But she'd met Emperor Peony, and she'd seen Malkuth with her own eyes. They weren't hostile, and she highly doubted they would do such a thing. But no matter how much she wanted to think they would never do such a thing, she didn't discard the idea altogether.

There was only one thing she knew for certain: Kimlasca didn't attack Malkuth.

But then who did? The Oracle Knights? She'd heard Mohs was removed as Grand Maestro, and he was the only person she could think of who wanted a war so desperately. Van and the God-Generals were all dead, so it couldn't possibly be them. Last she heard, all the Oracle Knights were on standby as they tried to reform the Order or Lorelei.

Nothing made sense.

All she knew was that someone was trying to start a war, and she refused to let that happen after all she and the others had gone through to prevent it from happening in the first place.

"Your Highness!"

Natalia turned her attention to the Kimlascan soldier hurrying in the direction of her and her guards. The man had jut come from the direction of the Malkuth side of the city, so Natalia hoped he had come with some information on the attack, and hopefully some proof for everyone that Kimlasca couldn't have been involved.

"Yes?" Natalia asked, trying to ignore the townspeople that stopped to listen in, "What is it?"

The soldier quickly saluted her after he had reached them before speaking, "I've just been informed about another attack, just outside St. Binah."

"I see," Natalia sighed, defeated, she already knew what the answer would be before she asked, "Did you hear who was involved?"

"They said that there was a platoon of Kimlascan soldiers involved, but it sounds as if there was no suicide bombing this time. Their attack didn't make it inside the city."

What was going on? Her father never would have allowed that attack either. Was someone within their army working on their own and taking control of their soldiers, as Van had with the Oracle Knights? Did they really believe Natalia and her father wouldn't find out about it? Or did they not care, and all they wanted to do was stage enough attacks on Malkuthian cities to start the war foretold in the Score?

At any rate, it was at least a relief the people inside St. Binah were unharmed.

"It's bad enough you had to attack our men," someone in the crowd that had formed around Natalia and her guards started, "You went and attacked a helpless city with hardly any soldiers?"

"They were hit the hardest from the fall to the Qliphoth, they must have been pretty easy targets for your men, right?!"

"Bet you feel all high and mighty, don't you? Attacking such a weak city, it's despicable!"

"But Princess Natalia looks so surprised herself!" a young man exclaimed to all the angered civilians, "There has to be some mistake!"

"Are you blind?!" a middle aged woman with a horridly nasally voice. Natalia recognized her to be one of the merchants at the bazaar, she had always seemed kind when the group had stopped to buy food from her during their travels, but now she was different. "She's clearly acting in order to gain our trust! The Kimlascans probably had this planned when the Peace Treaty was still being formed!" Many of the people surrounding her voiced their agreement while very few seemed to take the side of the other man.

"No," Natalia said without thinking, "No, it is nothing of the sort!"

"My son was just killed by your men and you have the nerve to show up as if nothing happened," the hysterical woman screamed back, "Give my son back to me!"

Natalia was taken aback by her words, she didn't know how to respond as the townspeople all started shouting at her. Very few even tried to come to her defense, and all who did got the same treatment Natalia was getting.

"Your Highness," one of the guards whispered in her ear, just loud enough for her to hear over the shouting of the townspeople, "Perhaps it would be in our best interest to return to Baticul for now. We can come back once everyone's calmed down."

Natalia slowly nodded, not taking her eyes off of the arguing men and women. Even some children had started fighting amongst themselves. The princess willed herself not to cry as she spoke, "Yes. Perhaps you're right."

It didn't feel right to leave the desert city while it looked like a small riot was about to break out, but they didn't exactly have much choice. The people were infuriated, who knew what could have happened to Natalia if they had been caught in the middle of it?

She did her best to hold back her tears as she was escorted back to the dock on the Kimlascan side to return to Baticul. After all those months of hard work, traveling, and the trouble she and her friends had gone through to make the peace treaty and save the Outer Lands, they were right back where they started - with a possible war on their hands.

But she wouldn't quit so easily. As long as there was a chance to prevent the war, she would prevent it, no matter the cost. She would return to Baticul for the time being, until the people of Chesedonia and Malkuth had calmed down. And once they had, she would prove to them that the Kimlascans were not responsible for the attacks.

Natalia made a mental note to travel to Grand Chokmah once things had calmed down and speak to Jade about what had happened. He was Emperor Peony's best friend, after all, and also a comrade she had grown to trust...well, she trusted him as much as a person _could_ trust someone like Jade. Regardless, if anyone would be able to inform her of what was going on, it would most likely be him.

...

Alex had heard that General Frings was in critical condition, but she wasn't expecting _this_.

It was a miracle he had even survived long enough to wait for them so he could explain what happened.

Alex couldn't help but feel horrible. While she and the others were reminiscing and catching up in blissful ignorance on the Albiore, Frings had been suffering. She couldn't even imagine the pain the poor man had to be in.

The first thing they all noticed was the worst of his wounds; his missing arm. It was clear that even if he did somehow manage to survive, there was no way he could continue as a General in the Imperial Army if he was no longer able to wield his sword.

As for the rest of his body, it looked as if there were small chunks of his flesh missing on the side of the missing arm that were hastily bandaged up. It seemed as if the healers they had couldn't stop the bleeding, as the majority of the once-white bandages were now almost completely red. His white hair was also matted with dirt and blood.

He held his remaining hand over his chest, obviously in great pain, and yet he still tried to stand when he saw Jade, despite the fact that he had difficulty keeping steady even while sitting.

"Colonel Curtiss," he said in a strained voice while he tried to stand, he was hardly on his feet for a few seconds before he fell over, Luke and Guy both rushing to catch him and help keep him steady.

"Tear, can you heal him?" Luke asked her.

She opened her mouth to reply before Frings spoke instead, "No...it's too late for that."

"There has to be _something_ we can do," Anise insisted, and Tear turned her head away from everyone.

"It's...alright, Tear," Frings told her, his voice still sounding strained, "You don't have to...feel guilty about not being able to...save me. I wouldn't be able to...live life f-fully without an arm," he paused for a moment, "I would be no good for...h-her in this condition."

"Try not to speak," Guy told him.

Frings ignored him and turned to face Jade, "Is it alright if I g-give my report here? I'm afraid I d-don't have much...time."

Jade nodded, a familiar emotionless look on his face. Alex had long-since grown accustomed to the look, "Understood."

"Shouldn't we get him to a bed or something?" Luke asked.

"If I lie down now...I won't ever open my eyes again."

"Don't say things like that!"

"Luke," Jade said, holding a hand out to silence him, "Let's hear his report."

"Colonel Curtiss," Frings started, "P-please convey to His Majesty...the identity of the attackers. It was approximately one company...carrying the banner of the Kimlascan Royal Forces."

Silence filled the room as everyone took a few moments to make sure they hadn't imagined what was just said. If it weren't for the report Alex had already made to Jade earlier, they probably would have been more surprised.

"Dammit, this can't be right!" Luke shouted, clenching his fist, "There's no way Natalia or Uncle would..."

"They took out our flank with suicide bombers using Fifth Fonon fontech bombs," Frings continued, as if he had to keep speaking or he wouldn't be able to finish his report, "That i-isn't the sort of tactic a national m-military would use. The majority of them were p-poorly equipped, and only a few w-wore military uniforms."

Jade spared a quick glance toward Alex, who nodded. It was exactly like what happened in St. Binah, minus the suicide bombing, thank Yulia. If they had done that, there was no way the city would have been able to protect itself.

"So it's the same situation as in St. Binah,"Jade said thoughtfully.

"The flag and some equipment were Kimlascan," Frings said, "B-but I don't believe that they were a part of the Royal military..." He stopped speaking right after his report, only to cough and hack up some blood into his remaining hand.

"Colonel, we need to find him a bed right away!" Tear said urgently.

"No," Frings argued before Jade could respond, "No, if you could, w-would you please bring me t-to the sanctuary?"

"But-"

"Let's bring him," Jade interjected, "This is his final request."

* * *

"I heard my birth Score for the year here...but it never mentioned f-falling into the Qliphoth."

Luke and Guy had supported him on his way to the sanctuary as Frings had asked, with the others following closely behind. Now, the General knelt in the middle of the small room, trying to support his own weight as he stared at the statue of Yulia Jue and spoke.

"The world has left the path of the Score," Luke told him.

"A future not written n the Score," Frings said, full of wonder, "It's so frightening...and so free."

"Free?" Anise asked, looking a little shocked to hear him say such a thing.

"Yes," Frings replied, "I w-wish I could have lived in this world...just a little longer."

Frings finally collapsed under his own weight, and lay sprawled on the ground until Luke knelt down and helped him sit up a little more."

"They," Frings said, and Alex could notice the lights in his eyes already beginning to fade, "The ones who attacked my forces...I don't think they were with Kimlasca. They all had empty eyes...like they were dead."

Jade looked the most surprised by this comment, and that surprise melted almost instantly into something that looked almost like anger. It was almost like when they ran into Legretta in the Deo Pass, and he had demanded to know who had revived fomicry.

"Master Luke... Please...don't allow war to start again."

"I won't," Luke promised, new determination on his face.

Frings turned his attention from Luke back to the statue of Yulia, "Yulia... Please bring happiness to this world that has lost the Score...and to her..."

They said nothing as Frings died, his head rolling back as he was still being supported by Luke, who gently laid him down on the tile floor.

"I wish there was something we could have done," he said, more to Frings' corpse than anyone else.

"It couldn't be helped," Jade told him.

The group was quiet as they brought Frings' body to Grand Chokmah's hospital to be properly taken care of - they obviously couldn't just leave him in the sanctuary - doing their best to ignore the whispers of the civilians they passed. They left the hospital in awkward silence, until Anise finally spoke.

"A world without a Score isn't free. It's just scary."

"That may be how you feel, Anise," Guy told her, "But General Frings was trying to find a way to live in a world without the Score."

"I personally think the world's a bit scarier with the Score anyway," Alex shrugged. When Anise gave her a confused look, she elaborated, "Every important decision a person needs to make, good or bad, they go to the Score for. There's no such thing as common sense. The Score has been the sole reason for so many disasters; look at the Hod War and Akzeriuth - look at Mohs, who was so desperately clinging to the Score that he didn't even care if thousands of people had to be killed to fulfill it even if the war could be avoided. Some events may have happened with or without the Score, but with it telling them what to do, they didn't even consider the possibility of making their own choice instead. Maybe things would have been different without the Score. I think we'd be better off making our own decisions, if most of the people on this planet weren't too thick to make any choices other than 'cause riots until we get the Score back'. The people of Auldrant have been constantly amazing me over the past couple weeks with just how ignorant they can be."

"Don't you think that's a bit harsh?"

Alex shrugged, "Is it? From what I remember, we ended up saving all their asses and all most of them have been doing is complaining about it. Did one person at the manor ever actually thank you for what you did when you returned?"

Luke paused, "Well, n-no, but-"

"I bet they treated you like you weren't even human after finding out you were a replica, right? They were scared of you, or at the very least treated you very differently from before?"

Luke didn't respond, so Anise cut in instead, "But they don't understand-"

"Because they can't be _bothered_ to try and understand. They think it's easier to believe it was all in the Closed Score, but somehow have the gall to blame us for what happened. So they hate us for even suggesting the idea of not using the Score anymore."

"But not everyone is like that," Tear told her.

Alex sighed, "No, you're right. For every ten people there's about one person that slightly restores my faith in humanity before the next one comes along and it's gone again. The people we dealt with in St. Binah showed me that, since a lot of them have been blaming us lately for making them live in Yulia City for a few months while so few have thanked us for saving them before they could fall along with the city to their deaths, but I guess I can't really blame them for having their whole town destroyed. Everyone needs a scapegoat after all." She paused for a moment, "Come on, Tear, you willingly put your life on the line to save them. Aren't you at least a _little_ annoyed that so few of them actually seem to appreciate it or recognize your efforts? The only ones who do are the people that were directly involved, like the governments. Most of the citizens would question why you did it in the first place since they didn't know they were in danger of falling as well. Either that or they would think your fate was told in the Score, so it's not like it's worth getting upset over."

It was Tear's turn to be speechless, and Luke managed to find his tongue again.

"It _was_ my fault the area fell," he argued, "It was because _I_ destroyed the pillar supporting Akzeriuth that _all_ of the Outer Lands started falling in the first place! I don't blame them for blaming everything on me, if that is what they're doing."

"That's quite enough of that," Jade interjected before Alex could respond. The older man turned to Alex, "This is the first I've heard of these thoughts, are they recent?" When Alex nodded, he continued, "If it has anything to do with the stress I put on you in St. Binah, I apologize."

Alex didn't respond, and they were all stood in awkward silence for a few moments. Alex couldn't help but notice Guy and Jade both looking at her despite the fact that she was staring hard at the ground.

Jade cleared is throat, "I'm going to see His Majesty. If you don't mind, Luke, I'd like you to accompany me."

"Me? That's fine, but...I don't really feel comfortable around him."

"Why?" Anise asked, "He's really rich."

It was obvious everyone was forcing a different subject after what Alex had said. She didn't mind though, she already wished she hadn't said her thoughts aloud. But that didn't mean she would change her mind on the matter so easily.

"I have to report about Asch, myself," Guy said, "Let's go together."

* * *

"I see. So Aslan has passed away."

"Yes. I would like Luke to inquire within the Kimlascan court regarding the matter."

Emperor Peony nodded from his throne and turned his head to the aforementioned redhead, "Luke, can I get you to do that?"

"I wonder if they'll listen to me..." Luke trailed off, and the others all shared a look.

"What are you talking about?" Anise laughed, "You're King Ingobert's nephew!"

"Aw, are they picking on you for being a replica?" Peony asked. Most people would probably think he was mocking Luke, but Alex was sure that wasn't the case. "You can come live here with Gailardia and Alexandra if you want."

"Your Majesty," Jade interjected, "Please don't make inappropriate jokes."

"But I was serious," Peony replied with a small pout, staring at Jade. When Jade said noting, Peony sighed, "Oh well... Luke, have confidence in yourself. You formed the peace treaty between Kimlasca and Malkuth. Don't tell me now that I named my newest rappig after you for no reason!"

"Another rappig?..." Alex heard Guy mutter from beside her, looking dejected as Luke looked completely confused about having a rappig named after him. She had to force herself not to laugh at them.

"Y-yes, Your Majesty."

"Okay, I'm counting on you, Luke," Peony said before turning to Guy, who was just recovering from the news of another rappig, "Now all that's left is Asch."

"Yes," Guy said, "Just as Your Majesty thought, he knew that the God-Generals were still alive. He also appears to be aware of the growing Planet Storm."

"If I may ask, Your Majesty," Tear started, "Why are you searching for Asch?"

"A witness reported he has the Key of Lorelei. We believe it may be possible to use it to surpress the Planet Storm."

"Oh yeah," Luke said, "Legretta was saying something about the Key, too."

"Yes," Tear said, "I wonder if they're looking for it as well."

"But according to Guy's information, the Planet Storm's heightened activity is the result of Lorelei being trapped somewhere," Jade said thoughtfully, "Perhaps we should understand the situation before concerning ourselves with the Key."

"You can hear Lorelei's voice, too," Anise turned to Luke, "Right, Luke? Has it said anything?"

"Yeah, I can," Luke shrugged, "But I haven't heard it since we lowered the Outer Lands."

"What did it say then?" Tear asked.

"Umm," Luke thought for a minute, "'I'll send you the key. Save me.' And then something about 'one who would seize glory' trying to capture Lorelei."

Alex couldn't help it, she groaned and promptly hit her hand to her forehead. Everyone else seemed shocked.

"Luke!" Guy said, his eyes wide, "Why didn't you say anything about it before now?!"

"What?" Luke asked, confused, "Well, I didn't get what it meant..."

"How could you not?!" Anise demanded, "If Lorelei said the word 'Key', anyone would think the Key of Lorelei!"

"Yeah, not to mention Van," Guy added.

"Van?" Luke asked.

"He couldn't have known," Jade told everyone, "Luke doesn't know Ancient Ispanian."

"Oh, that's right, " Guy sighed, scratching the back of his head, "We only taught him what he needed to know for daily life."

"Natalia and I told you we should have taught him Ancient Ispanian, didn't we?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, yeah," Guy replied, "Luke still wouldn't have bothered to learn it."

Alex shrugged, "Fine. Fair enough."

"I'm standing right here, you know!" Luke snapped, "What the hell are you talking about , anyway?"

"The Ancient Ispanian word for 'One who would seize glory' is 'vandesdelca'," Tear explained, and finally Luke seemed to get it.

"Van was absorbed into the Planet Storm," Jade said, "He'll have ended up at the core."

"Are you saying Master Van trapped Lorelei?" Luke asked, his eyes wide. Alex couldn't help but be annoyed that he still referred to Van as 'Master'.

"That's what Asch thinks," Tear told him, "Or rather, that's what he heard from Lorelei."

Luke tried to argue, "But Master Van's already-"

"No," Guy interrupted, "We don't know that for sure. If Asch is right, and Sync is still alive, then Van could be too."

"You didn't get the Key of Lorelei?" Peony asked Luke, who shook his head.

"No... Never."

"That's strange," Jade said thoughtfully, "Lorelei said it would send the Key, and apparently Asch has one. So where is the other Key supposedly sent to Luke?"

"You guys said Asch was searching the Sephiroth, right?" Alex asked, "That's probably what he's looking for if he was in the Radiation Gate helping Luke lower the lands when they heard Lorelei's voice."

Luke nodded, "Yeah... We have to find Asch, he knows more about this than we do."

"I've got a bad feeling about all this," Tear sighed, "We know something's happening, but we don't know what it is or who's behind it."

"Yes," Jade agreed, "But let's start with something we can confirm. Were the Malkuth Forces attacked by the real Kimlascan military? That should be easy to check."

"We'll investigate as well," Peony said, "Jade, pursue Asch once you confirm Kimlasca's activity. I trust you'll be taking Alex with you?"

Jade adjusted his glasses, "I'd assume she'd tag along whether or not I asked her to accompany me."

"The Colonel would be right," Alex shrugged.

"Great," Peony continued, "Gailardia-"

"Could I continue to assist Jade as well?"

Peony regarded him for a moment, "Worried about you childhood friend?"

"Something like that..."

"Very well," Peony smiled, "I'm counting on you."

* * *

"I'm sorry about my outburst earlier. I haven't really been feeling myself lately."

"Don't worry about it," Luke shrugged, "You're stressed out. I bet anyone would snap after working with _Jade_ for so long. St. Binah probably didn't help."

Jade adjusted his glasses, "Is it truly so difficult to be around me?"

"If you're this bad in a group," Luke started, "I can't even imagine how bad it must be with just the two of you every day."

"Well, I must say, I'm quite offended. I would have you know that I did nothing but try to make everyone's experiences throughout our journey memorable."

Luke rolled his eyes, "That's for sure."

Alex laughed, "Nah, the Colonel's actually not so bad to work for. It can actually be fun sometimes."

"You might just be too used to being around him, then," Guy told her, "The thought actually scares me a little."

"No kidding," Luke agreed.

Tear turned to Alex while they continued in the direction of the downtown area, "It's alright to have doubts every once and a while. It's better than blindly going along with something simply because others said to."

"Yeah," Anise agreed, "Besides, it wasn't like you were talking about joining Van or anything because of it, right?"

Alex smiled, "It would take a _lot_ more than some people annoying me to make me want to get in on that insanity."

"Good," Tear said, "Now, are staying the night here? I doubt it's a good idea to go straight to Baticul in the middle of the night."

"Why don't we spend the night in the city?" Alex asked, "It's been a long day, and I think it's safe to say we're all pretty exhausted."

"Sounds good to me," Guy nodded, "We can't ask Noelle to keep flying if she's tired."

"True," Jade agreed, "We'll split up for the night and meet at the entrance in the morning. Prepare anything you might need in the meantime."

"Okay," Anise said while the others nodded their approval of the plan, "I should probably send a letter to Ion anyway...You know, on recent events. He'd probably want to know about Frings."

"Then it's settled," Jade replied, "We'll meet at the entrance to the city at seven tomorrow morning. Please try not to be late."

Jade headed off in the direction of his own home after bidding them all a good night, and Alex and Guy were about to leave as well when Tear turned to Luke, Anise, and Noelle, "Should we go see if there are any vacant rooms in the hotel?"

"I kind of wanted to see Guy and Alex's place first," Luke shrugged, "I'm curious about what it's like."

"Sure," Guy nodded, "Don't even bother with the hotel, there should be enough room for all of you to stay the night."

"Awesome," Luke grinned.

"Not spending money is always great with me!" Anise exclaimed happily, "So where do you guys live?"

"Around the end of the residential district," Alex explained, "It's one of the closer buildings to the waterfalls. Come on."

After leading the others to Guy's mansion and giving them a quick tour, they decided they might as well go back into town to see if there were any shops still open so they could stock up on things like food and gels. They knew from experience that just because they planned to go directly to Baticul, nothing was ever certain with them. Who knew where they could actually end up?

When they got into town, all the shops were about to close up (Alex thought it was amazing that they had even stayed open past midnight to begin with), so they decided to split up into groups so they could get things done faster. Luke and Mieu went with Tear to find a place that sold gels, while Anise went with Noelle to search for food, which left Alex and Guy to search for possible equipment they might need, like cooking tools or even tents if they could find small enough ones that wouldn't be hard to carry.

Alex noticed Guy was acting a little strange, and she suspected it had something to do with what she had said about her thoughts on the people of Auldrant and the Score earlier that night. She didn't exactly want to talk about it, and it seemed like he was having a hard time not mentioning it, so she asked him the first question that came to mind to avoid any possibility of the subject coming up.

"So how's it going with your psychologist? Dr. Vaccarro, right?"

"Yeah," Guy scratched the back of his head, and instantly Alex knew he was nervous. At least he seemed to be distracted, "It's funny you should mention that..."

"...Yeah?"

"Well...you come up a lot in my sessions, and the therapist says that maybe it would help me to get over my phobia a bit if we started...sleeping together."

His words hung in the air around them, echoing in Alex's head as her eyes widened and her face heated up. Did he really just...did he _actually_ just say what she thought he just said? She was shocked, to say the least, that he would be so forward, and just because his psychologist said so! Did he really make _that_ much progress with his phobia, anyway?

Guy's eyes widened at Alex's reaction, he seemed to have just realized what he said, "Wait! That came out wrong!"

Alex cleared her throat, her voice cracked when she spoke, maybe she _would_ have preferred talking about her faith in humanity. "You know, I'm _really_ not so sure I want some guy I've never met dictating that part of our relationship."

Guy was now blushing almost as much as Alex was, "No! That's not... I meant - he said like taking naps together every now and then or sleeping in the same bed!"

Alex felt relief at those words, "Oh! Oh, okay then. I thought...never mind. But how are we supposed to find the time for naps with our schedule? And it's not like we could really sleep in the same bed without everyone torturing us about it later. They don't even know we're together yet. On that note we've only _been_ together for a couple weeks, and we haven't even been in the same town for more than half of that time."

"I guess that's true."

"It's probably a good call not to try it tonight, anyway, with everyone staying at our place tonight we'd definitely get caught by one of them...which reminds me, you said that you wanted to tell them about us?"

"Sort of, yeah," he admitted, "But part of me _is_ a little curious about how long it would take them to figure it out, like you said."

"So you don't want to tell them?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow, "If you do, then I don't mind. You don't have to say you don't want to just because of me."

"Are you sure? That doesn't really sound right," Guy smirked while Alex rolled her eyes at him, "I think the worst of their antagonizing is over, anyway. It might be fun to see how long it takes them."

"If you're sure."

Guy nodded in response.

They managed to find a place that sold camping supplies that was amazingly still open and went in. They were about to close, so they purchased a few of the first things they saw that could be useful: matches, some sleeping bags, as their old ones had been a bit worn out from countless nights sleeping in different terrains, a knife set, and a couple fishing rods and bait. They called their excursion a success and returned home to meet the others.

Everyone was too exhausted to stay up any later once they had all met up, so they went to bed right away. Considering they had to be up about six hours later, the earlier they went to bed, the better.

One thing Alex hadn't had the time to do while she was in St. Binah (among many things, when she thought about it), was maintain her bangs. Even after only a couple of weeks since she had last trimmed them, they had already grown to be almost completely covering her eyes. She was having a harder time seeing properly with them always in the way, about every five seconds she had had to flick them out of her face, so she decided that then was really the only opportunity she would be able to trim them for what would most likely be a while.

She went straight into the small bathroom connected to her bedroom, and grabbed her comb and scissors. She was barely five minutes into trimming them when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. Guy entered moments later when she called for him to come in.

He leaned against the wall of her bathroom and watched for a few moments. It was actually a little nerve wracking, Alex didn't really like being watched while she did something.

"Are you cutting your hair back to the length it was before?" Guy eventually asked.

Alex shrugged, trying to focus. Her had grown quite a bit since she had joined the group in the abandoned factory. Back then it ended above her shoulders, now it was getting past her shoulder blades, "Don't know."

"I kind of like it longer," he said, "Now that it's brown, anyway. I think it suits you more."

"Thanks... But I'm guessing you didn't come here to watch me cut my hair?"

"As fun as it is," Guy replied with a small smirk, "No. I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

"Can it wait a bit?" she asked him, checking if her bangs were even. She already had an idea of what he wanted to talk about, and it wasn't exactly something she was eager to discuss. "I sort of need to focus, or I might mess up."

She saw him shrug in the mirror, "Sure. I can wait in my room if you want?"

She nodded slightly before snipping at her hair a little more, "Great, I'll be over there in a bit. I'm almost done here."

* * *

Alex entered his room to see him sitting on his floor and tinkering with one of his fon machines.

"What're you doing?" she asked while stifling a yawn. It was getting really late, why did he need to talk to her _now_?

"I needed something to do so I wouldn't fall asleep."

She nodded in response and took a seat on his bed. "This is about what I said earlier, about the Score and everything, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." he sighed, before looking away from his machine, "Listen, I know what you're going through. I had the same thoughts after what happened to Hod, to a degree. I didn't know the Score was really involved back then, but either way I eventually got over it. I think you just need to get it out of your system. You can talk to me if you want, I'm not going to judge you or anything."

Alex sighed, maybe he was right. She closed her eyes before starting, "They're all so annoyingly helpless and ignorant without the Score. Like infants without their parents to look to for support. I almost can't help but understand why Van would want to do what he's doing."

Guy didn't say anything, he only watched her closely. He promised he wouldn't judge her, but she could tell he wanted to say something about what she just said.

"Sorry, I didn't mean I agreed with him. I don't think the people deserve to be annihilated. They've just been really annoying me with their constant bitching and rioting lately. They're so set against the idea of living without the Score that they won't even listen when we try to tell them that they all would have died if we hadn't gone against it, they're so set on believing that it was all part of the Closed Score... They probably wouldn't care that much if they knew Tear was dying because of it. They would respect her if she did die for them, sure, but they would all forget about her within weeks. I'm sorry, you probably don't agree with me, but I'm just frustrated with them."

"They'll calm down eventually," Guy said, "They've lived their whole lives with the Score guiding them, so it's understandable they would be lost without it. Maybe if they were at least given some time to adjust to the idea instead of prohibiting the Score all at once they wouldn't be taking it so badly."

Alex sighed, "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"Give them some more time to adjust, alright?"

Alex nodded and thanked him for listening to her, she did feel a little better after getting everything off her chest. She bade him good night before getting up and heading to his door.

"Where are you going?"

Alex raised an eyebrow at him, "To my room?"

"Why?" He stood up and quickly moved to block the door from her.

Alex's eyes moved over to his window. It was completely dark outside, the only thing that could be seen was the moonlight reflecting in the waterfalls surrounding the city. "We have to get up in about five hours. I kinda thought sleeping might be a good idea."

"So...?" He crossed his arms and leaned against the door, not letting her leave the room.

She rolled her eyes and attempted to open the door anyway, though it proved to be impossible with him using his full weight on it, "So I _kind_ _of_ need to get to my bed."

He grinned at her, "What's wrong with my bed?"

She stopped struggling to get to the door and felt her face heat up, "Guy-"

"I was thinking we might as well try out that sleeping in the same bed idea. It'll help with my phobia, right?"

"I don't know..."

"Come on, my doctor even prescribed it!"

She gave him a deadpan stare.

"What?"

"Seriously?" she asked before shaking her head, "Never mind, I'm not even going to respond to that. Anyway, isn't it a little fast?"

"Does that really matter? It's not like I'm suggesting anything serious. If it weren't for my phobia we probably would have been dating months ago, maybe longer."

"Really?" she raised an eyebrow, "Because I'm pretty sure all the members of the Royal family would have had something to say about that."

"Okay, sure, but that's really not the point I was trying to make..."

Alex sighed, she was too tired to argue, "You do realize that Luke and the others are staying with us?"

Guy shrugged, "Yeah."

Alex thought for a few moments. She guessed there wasn't really any harm in what he was suggesting. "Alright, why not? But if we get caught and the others antagonize us over it, it's all on you."

He grinned again.

* * *

"So, why are you wearing your old servant's uniform again?" Luke asked Guy, voicing everyone's thoughts as they met up outside the mansion the next morning.

Guy shrugged, "They're more comfortable to move around in. I thought they'd be better if we'll be gone for a while like last time, especially if we ever need to battle."

The others nodded in understanding, and after they made it to the main road Anise ran off to mail her letter, while the others all went to the entrance of the city to meet Jade. Guy and Alex had miraculously managed to go the entire night and morning undetected by the others, so they were all still clueless about the two of them.

As they expected, the colonel stood waiting, hands in his pockets, for them off to the side of the detailed bridge connecting the city to the road leading toward Theor Forest. Noelle had landed the Albiore just outside the city the night before, so they didn't have to walk far.

They greeted each other casually and then Tear quickly explained what Anise was doing as she sat herself on the bridge's railing, Noelle doing the same.

"At a time like this?" Jade asked, "Didn't she say she was going to send that letter last night?"

Alex shrugged as she leaned next to Tear on the railing, "Post office was probably closed. We did get out of that audience pretty late last night."

"What's the harm in waiting a few minutes, anyway?" Luke asked.

Jade sighed, "I suppose."

"So when should we reach Baticul?" Guy asked.

"Hmm," Noelle thought for a moment, "Let's see... It'll probably take three to four hours. We should make it there around noon, I think, with the time change and all."

"We'll have plenty of time to discuss with Natalia, then."

Out of the corner of her eye, Alex noticed Anise running toward them, her pig-tails flying behind her as she ran. Alex stood up straight, ready to leave, when Anise threw herself at Guy from behind him.

He yelled out when she made contact with him, and promptly attempted to push her away. She wasn't budging.

"You're _still _not used to it?" Anise asked him, an annoyed look on her face as he started to shake a bit at her touch.

"Not when you sneak up on me like that!"

Alex shrugged and spoke without thinking, "He's kind of like a velocidragon, you have to let him know you're there before you approach him."

Luke and Anise laughed a bit, even Tear and Jade managed a smile. Well, Jade's was a little more unsettling.

Guy turned his attention to Alex, "Excuse me?!"

Alex felt awkward, and blushed a little at his annoyed gaze. She hadn't meant to say it out loud, "Sorry, Guy, but I couldn't think of anything else to explain it."

Guy rolled his eyes, and resumed trying to push Anise away from him, "Yeah, whatever, can you just get her away from me!"

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! They mean a lot. :)**_

_**And nothing really happened with Guy and Alex, just felt the need to point that out. xD Guy's still not fully over his phobia, and in my mind I would think he was just eager to get over it.  
**_

_**And since I have most of the rest of the chapters all planned out, I think I'll do little sneak peaks from now on. (If I remember) So get ready for some more Isabell POV. Just a heads up though that the preview for this one references a part I added to chapter 21-22 a few months back for anyone who's been reading longer than that.  
**_

_**In the next chapter of Not What it Seems:**_

"Why would you even be offering me this?" Isabell asked, turning away from him, "As I recall, the last time we met, I came close to bashing your skull in."

Dist's grin vanished, "I'm offering this on Mohs' orders. My feelings about that incident have not changed. It took three hours to wash the blood from my hair!"

Isabell resisted the urge to laugh as she started walking away from him, "Whatever, you can tell Mohs I'm not interested, and nothing is about to change that."

"Now who was that young Oracle Knight you were so fond of?" Dist asked, causing Isabell to stop in her tracks, "Morgan Reily, was that his name?"

Isabell paused, "Why would you care?"

"If I told you," Dist started, floating around her in his chair so they were face to face again, "That I was getting closer to creating a perfect replica - one who had their original's memories - would it change your mind at all?"


	51. Life Changes

_**A/N: I drew a cover for the fic! Yay.**_

_**Anyway, there's a reference to a change I made in chapter 22-23 a few months ago in this one, for those who have been reading for a REALLY long time.**_

_**Bit of a shorter chapter this time around, and it may seem kind of filler but it isn't really at the same time. I'm moderately happy with how it came out. xD I got some info in this one from the taleslations site. Some really cool info on that site, for anyone who wants to check it out.**_

_**Be warned there's some particularly foul words on Isabell's part in this chapter for younger viewers. :P**_

_**I still don't own Tales of the Abyss.**_

* * *

_Chapter 51: Life Changes  
_

_"You know I hate people who beat around the bush, so I'll get right to the point. How much of his plan has Van revealed to you?" _

_Isabell sat in the chair across from Cantabile's office desk. The older woman paced back and forth behind the younger girl. It made Isabell nervous, not being able to watch her for any reactions. Hearing her footsteps approaching her and coming to a stop directly behind her only made the experience even more nervewracking._

_Isabell thought about Cantabile's question for a moment, and only then did she realize how little she actually knew. She turned in her seat to look up at Cantabile, "He's only told me the end result. He wants Hod to be revived."_

_Cantabile nodded, the eye not hidden by an eye-patch quietly regarding her. Isabell shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She didn't like this. Normally when Cantabile was this quiet, and went this long without uttering a single insult, it meant there was bad news._

_Cantabile crossed her arms and narrowed her eye at Isabell, "What _possible_ reason could you have for being so dead set on helping Van, if you have no idea the details of his idiotic plan?"_

_Isabell flinched and turned away from her again and stared hard at her feet before mumbling, barely loud enough for her to hear, "I owe him, sir. He saved me."_

_She heard Cantabile sigh in frustration, and dared to look at her again._

_Cantabile returned her gaze with a cold glare before opening the door and stepping aside. Isabell took this as her way of asking her to leave, "If that's the case, I won't train you any further until you've spoken to the Commandant."_

_"What?!" Isabell stood up, the chair falling backward onto the floor from the force, "But why?"_

_"I refuse to train someone so blind. Speak to Van, hear the details of his plans, and then come find me. Until then, I don't want you in my presence."_

_Cantabile then marched right out the door, slammed it closed when she left, and left a very perplexed Isabell in its wake._

_She didn't know what else to do, since Cantabile had just basically cancelled the only plan she had for the day. She slowly left the older woman's office, and let her feet carry her to Van's. _

_Cantabile wouldn't act that way without reason, would she? Part of her didn't want to know more about Van's plans after what just took place, so it was with dread that she finally came to knock on the door to Van's office._

_"Enter."_

_Isabell hesitated, but slowly opened the door to be met with Van's penetrating blue eyes._

_"Isabell," he sighed, it appeared as though he was hoping for someone else, "You look troubled. What's wrong?"_

_Isabell took a seat in the chair across from him, "I just had a strange conversation with Commander Cantabile."_

_Van nodded, "I thought it would be something like that. Am I correct in assuming she no longer wants to train you?"_

_"Yes. How did you know?"_

_"I spoke with her a few hours ago. I had decided it was time to tell her more of my plan, and she decided she does not agree with my methods. She has declined my offer to become one of my chosen God-Generals, and instead plans to continue to work in the Maestro faction, for Mohs," Van sighed, "I had my heart set on her becoming a God-General, but it is of little consequence now. We can make the plan work without her."_

_Isabell nodded, but couldn't think of anything to say._

_"You still seem troubled," Van said, "Is this because she will no longer be training you? We can find you another personal trainer, it wouldn't be difficult."_

_She shook her head, "No...well yes, that may be part of it, but all you've told me about your plans is that you intend to resurrect Hod. The Commander told me that I should make a more informed decision. What exactly _are _these methods that she isn't agreeing with?"_

_Van looked at her closely for a few moments, "Do you doubt me, Isabell?"_

_She shook her head again, "Of course not! I just - I'd like to know a little more about this plan, if you really want me involved."_

_He rested his chin on his fingers and thought. Isabell waited nervously for a response before -_

_"Revenge."_

_Isabell's eyes widened slightly, yet she wasn't completely surprised by this. Van had told her that he held animosity toward the people who caused Hod's destruction, so she had been somewhat expecting revenge to be part of the plan. "Revenge?"_

_Van nodded, "Tell me, Isabell, would you be against the idea of revenge on the people who destroyed Hod? The same people who indirectly caused you to be homeless in the streets of Chesedonia, suffering quietly for years? Do you believe these people deserve to go on unpunished for what they've done to us and countless others?"_

_Isabell shook her head. Why should they have had to live in torment while the people responsible continued to live happily? Why did her little sister, the only family she had left, have to live under the roof of the man responsible for the attack on Hod without knowing who she really was? She had already been planning to infiltrate Fabre Manor to retrieve Alex at one time or another, whether or not she turned her sword on the Duke while she was there remained to be seen._

_She had no intention of breaking her word to Van. He had saved her from her horrible life in Chesedonia, and she intended to repay the debt._

_But still, this was a side of Van she hadn't seen._

_"Are you familiar with Jade Curtiss?" Van suddenly asked._

_Isabell thought for a moment, the name did sound familiar._

_"He is more well known as 'Jade the Necromancer'," Van told her, watching her think._

_"Oh, him," Isabell said, looking up at him, "Yeah, I keep hearing his name mentioned. He's some great fonist, right? Founded Fomicry?"_

_"Correct."_

_They was a pregnant pause before Isabell spoke up again, "So what does Hod have to do with the Necromancer?"_

_Van stood up and moved over to one of the overfilled bookshelves behind his desk, starting a search for a certain book. "You could say he is responsible for Hod's destruction."_

_Isabell knitted her eyebrows together, "But Duke Fabre's the one who invaded Hod."_

_Van shook his head, "I'm not speaking about the war itself. Before the war began, research was conducted on Hod, and it led to Hod's destruction."_

_"Am I right in guessing this Necromancer was heading the experiments?" Isabell asked._

_Van nodded, and found the book he was looking for. He pulled it from the shelf and handed it to Isabell. She took a quick look at it and found that it was a book on something called Hyperresonance, written by Dr. Jade Curtiss. By flipping through the pages, she quickly realized she had no shot of understanding any of it even if she wanted to._

_"What's a hyperresonance?" Isabell asked, placing the book on Van's desk as the man sat down again, "Is that what the experiments were on?"_

_Van nodded once more, "Hyperresonance is a dangerous ability that occurs when two Seventh Fonists use their abilities together. It allows its users to tear apart and reconstruct the fonons of an object."_

_"Sounds powerful," Isabell said, "So why would they be experimenting on that?"_

_"They were trying to see if it was possible to create an artificial hyperresonance," Van explained, "And they chose a young boy, who had the most affinity on the whole island for the Seventh Fonon, to participate in the experiments."_

_Isabell was quiet for a moment. "You?"_

_Van nodded yet again, "Correct. The experiments were all painful, you can understand why they would lead me to start to hate this Dr. Curtiss, who had ordered the experiments. Whether or not he ever set foot on Hod didn't matter to me, he was the reason I went through all that pain. And later, when Malkuth sensed the invasion from Kimlasca and abandoned Hod, they realized they had no time to recover the fomicry machines on the island. They summoned me to the institute, and attached me by force to a machine capable of generating an artificial hyperresonance. The hyperresonance accidentally hit a Sephiroth Tree, and so Hod started to fall into the Qliphoth. It took days, and it only fell after Duke Fabre had claimed victory and most of the inhabitants of Hod were killed."_

_"Wait, hold on," Isabell shook her head, "Sephiroth Tree? Qliphoth? What are you talking about?"_

_Van proceeded to explain everything he knew about the Sephiroth Trees, and how they held up Auldrant's crust, also known as the Outer Lands. He sang one of Yulia's Fonic Hymns to protect himself and his pregnant mother from dying during the fall into the Qliphoth. His so-far-briefly-mentioned younger sister had grown up in a place called Yulia City, in the Qliphoth. _

_Everything sounded too crazy to believe; she wondered briefly if the experiments conducted on him had affected his mind, and yet, Isabell trusted him._

_"This is a lot of information to take in," Van said, noting the shocked and baffled expression on her face, "Take as much time as you need to process it."_

_"But..." Isabell said slowly, "That doesn't exactly answer my question. I know why you plan to do whatever it is you're going to do, but I still don't know what that plan is."_

_Van remained silent for a few moments before nodding, "I plan to eradicate the Score, Isabell."_

_Isabell knitted her eyebrows together in thought. "How? Can you really do that?"_

_Van nodded once more, "All you need to know for now is that I do plan for you to join me as a God-General. I can't do this without you, Isabell."_

_She believed him._

_After hearing what he had to say, she couldn't really see why Cantabile would refuse his offer, and be so dead set against it. What was so bad about eliminating the Score? People would probably be better off without it anyway. If even Fon Master Evenos was against the Score, getting rid of it couldn't be so bad._

_Cantabile never struck Isabell as one to be so dependent on the Score, either, so she couldn't see any reason for hating the idea so much._

_She thought about her meeting with Van all through her division's training session, hardly paying attention to the trainer's lesson on Fonic Marking. Not that it mattered that much anyway, she wasn't a fonist so the lesson wasn't that important to her. _

_As long as the fonists she ever ended up working with knew how to place these fonic marks into her fon slots so their artes wouldn't affect her, she didn't care._

_She was snapped out of her thoughts as the elderly man that was their trainer instructed the non-fonic arte users to stay within the fonist's sights at all costs in arduous battles. Something about this Fonic Marking only functioning when the fonist could see the people they had marked, she wasn't quite sure._

_Maybe it would have been a good idea to pay attention..._

_Oh well, she was a little more concerned about going back to face Cantabile after the session, and hearing what she would say when Isabell told her she intended to stick by Van._

_"You look like something's on your mind," came a familiar voice. Isabell sighed, just once she would have liked to go a training session without Morgan pestering her._

_"What's it to you?" she asked him with a glare._

_He shrugged, swiping his black hair from his eyes. He constantly did that whenever he tried speaking to her, and it annoyed her much more than it probably should have. Why didn't he just get a fucking haircut if his bangs got in the way that often? Seriously._

_Apparently, the bespectacled moron had gotten used to her glares whenever he approached her over the weeks since he had practically started stalking her, as he had eventually stopped flinching whenever he was met with one. Honestly, it was almost as if he accepted one of her glares as a casual greeting._

_The very idea of her willingly speaking to the annoying man was absurd._

_Yet somehow, she had gone and almost...looked forward to the times during the day when he would seek her out and try to speak to her, no matter how much she wanted to hate him. _

_She picked out little details about him and tried hard to make them into something that irritated her - like his hair swiping, for one. The way he bit on the ends of his glasses while thinking whenever she saw him in the cathedral's library pouring over a book, for another._

_Then she had to wonder why she was noticing all these little things about him when she didn't even care about him._

_"I just noticed that the closer the end of the session is, the more antsy you look."_

_"You spent the lesson staring at me instead of paying attention?"_

_"So? You spent the lesson spacing out instead of paying attention."_

_"And you would know that because you spent the lesson staring at me," Isabell snapped at him, "What do you want, Creeper?"_

_He smiled his annoying smile, completely pushing past the 'Creeper' comment and making her roll her eyes. "I was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat once the lesson's over."_

_How in the hell could he still treat her like that after all the rude comments she had given him? Was he mentally damaged or something? She gave him a dumbfounded look, "You _can't _be serious."_

_"Then how come I am?"_

_Isabell scoffed just as the gong signaling the end of the lesson and the start of lunch period rang out though the huge room. Without another word, she turned her back on Morgan and made a beeline for the exit, hoping that would be the end of the conversation._

_She should have known better._

_"So is that a yes or a no?"_

_Isabell growled, not slowing her pace as Morgan had to move at a slow jog to keep up with her, "You're annoyingly persistent."_

_"Come on, it's not like I'm asking you on a date or anything."_

_"I should hope not."_

_"Okay, ouch."_

_"Look," Isabell halted and turned to face Morgan, "I have somewhere I need to be; I don't have time for this." She didn't wait for a response before she turned again and continued on her way to Cantabile's office. This time she didn't hear Morgan's footsteps following her, and sighed in relief._

_She wasn't feeling relieved for very long, though. It was with dread that she forced herself to knock on the door to the commander's office._

_The door opened slowly, and Isabell was met with the harsh gaze of the older woman._

_"Well?"_

_It became clear that Cantabile wasn't going to invite her into the room until she heard what she wanted to hear. The problem was, Isabell had to tell her something else._

_"I spoke to the Commandant."_

_"And?"_

_Isabell didn't exactly know how to word it, "I've...chosen to stay by his side."_

_"I thought you had the potential to be better than the rest of the maggots here, Isabell," There was a pregnant pause between them before Cantabile continued, "You can find someone else to train you. I refuse to train someone stupid enough to train that man. Never speak to me again!"_

_She wasted no more words before slamming the door in Isabell's face._

* * *

_"You look upset."_

_"Don't I always?"_

_"Well..." Morgan pushed his glasses up his nose, "I guess you still never smile, but now you actually look really upset about something."_

_"What's your point? And haven't I told you several times to leave me the hell alone? Why are you so damn interested in me?"_

_Morgan shrugged, "I like a challenge."_

_Isabell rolled her eyes, "I am so close to getting a restraining order on you."_

_"I guess I have been trying to talk to you a lot lately, huh?"_

_Isabell glared at him, was he getting to a point anytime soon?_

_"Sorry, I heard that Commander Cantabile isn't training you any more, so I figured you might have some free time. I was wondering if you might want to spar with me for a bit? It looks like you need to blow off some steam, just try not to kill me, yeah?"_

_Isabell raised an eyebrow at him, finally he said something that got a little bit of interest. She sighed, it wasn't as if she had anything better to do, "Fine."_

_"Really?" his blue eyes widened, he obviously hadn't anticipated her saying yes. _

_"Why not?" she shrugged, "This better be worth my time. What weapon do you use, anyway?"_

_They started in the direction of the training grounds before he answered, not seeming annoyed at all that she didn't already know after being in the same training group for months. In fact, he seemed more excited that she had asked him something about himself, "I'm mainly fonist specializing in the third fonon. I think it might be good for me to try training with someone more suited for close combat, like you."_

_"You said mainly," Isabell noted, "So you use another weapon."_

_Morgan swiped his hair out of his eyes, making Isabell's eye twitch. "I can't just give away all my secrets before going into a fight."_

_Isabell smirked, "Fair enough."_

* * *

_Isabell stood over Morgan with her sword held at his throat. It hadn't taken too much effort on her part for the fight to be won. She had to give him credit though, he did better than she thought he would. He was quick to cast, and hit her with a Turbulence before she could even reach him. It wasn't powerful, but she had a feeling he was holding back as she had, since it had just been a spar._

_The secret weapon he'd had turned out to be a handgun, with a fonic glyph intricately carved into its barrel. It allowed him to shoot his third fonic artes across a battlefield in record time. She could tell just by a spar that lasted ten minutes that his favorite arte was Wind Needle._

_They were both panting as Isabell stood up straight and sheathed her sword, actually taking the time to help Morgan up, which was a shocker for both of them._

_She left before they had a chance to talk, or he had a chance to try and get her to talk, and ever since she had been a bit kinder to him. _

_He was right, she had felt a lot better about Cantabile after their spar, and as the days continued, she found herself starting to humor Morgan a little when he tried to talk to her. She would comment on what he said occasionally without insult, and nod to him when they passed each other in the hallways, which he definitely seemed to take as a good sign._

_He began to crack her shell, bit by bit. Part of her thought she was allowing this simply to spite Cantabile after what happened, but she found herself actually enjoying her life a little more when Morgan was around. She actually started to look for him after some time, though she would never be the one to initiate a conversation._

_He had made her laugh once, and that had her finally realize that a person's company might not actually be so bad. _

_It had been so many years since she had really laughed, that the sound felt foreign coming from her, but she liked it. What had made her laugh was actually quite stupid, but he seemed to take it as a success all the same. _

_Someone had just made a comment about how Morgan had to be insane for trying to get to know a bitch like Isabell. She would have been insulted, had she not seen Morgan's angry face for the first time after the comment was made. It took a couple seconds to figure out why his face looked so familiar, but then realized that he looked very reminiscent of a turtle when he was angry. A turtle with glasses, that is._

_She couldn't help herself, while he stood there and glared his turtle glare at the person who made the comment about Isabell, she started laughing. And once she started, she couldn't stop. Before she knew it, she was doubled over and almost in pain because she was laughing so hard. Morgan looked at her in total confusion as she made herself look like an idiot, trying to tell him why she was laughing._

_It was after that that she really started letting him in._

_After a couple months, they had wordlessly agreed on a meeting place in the halls, where their seemingly pointless conversations would be held. They had steadily grown longer, and she'd eventually learned to open up about herself. He'd somehow gone from being the most annoying person on the planet to one of the most important to her. _

_"I've been thinking this for a while, but have you ever considered growing out your hair? I think long hair would suit you."_

_That was all it took for her to start growing her hair out again._

_Over the next year she had become more light-hearted thanks to Morgan, as well as the lack of Cantabile in her life. They had become more or less inseparable, and he had somehow managed to change her into a decent person. She no longer wore the scowl everyone in the cathedral had become accustomed to, and with longer hair than before she had pretty much become unrecognizable to everyone there. _

_She still had a hard time getting along with people other than Morgan, and on her own she was the same person she had always been. Angry, depressed...she'd just gotten better at hiding it around people. She was slowly becoming more sarcastic, and quick to make jokes, and everyone seemed to believe that she was alright._

_Everyone but Morgan. _

_She'd long since told him about Hod, and her life before in Chesedonia. While he led a more privileged life, growing up in the more wealthy part of Daath, he did his best to try and make her feel better. He'd ended up fulfilling his goal of getting her to smile, anyway, though he said he only counted the ones that were real. He knew the only thing keeping her from being truly happy was her little sister._

_A few months into their friendship, Isabell noticed he had started to take interest in a local girl, one who owned a flower shop. It became clearer and clearer that he wasn't ever interested in Isabell romantically, not that she particularly cared about that. She cared about him because he was an irreplaceable friend, there was no way they could really work as a couple even if they wanted to, despite all the accusations from their peers. There were rules against fraternization in place._

_She was content with being friends, or she at least convinced herself she was, and would quietly support Morgan in trying to speak to the flower shop girl, and by the end of the year he had successfully asked her out on a date. _

_Isabell had other things on her mind than romance. She was still training hard to be one of Van's God-Generals, and nothing was going to stop her from climbing the ladder to that position._

_Whenever he spent the little time they had to spend together talking about the flower girl, she tried to be happier for him, but she had become so accustomed to her new life, and when Morgan began spending a lot of his time with the new girl, things started to change again. He was still a dear friend, and they still spent time together when they were in the cathedral, but when the flower girl was around she felt like a third wheel. And on top of that, it was clear the new girl, Eliza, didn't like her at all._

_Just once, she would have liked her life to have some sort of consistency, and this time, she wasn't going to let her life change without a fight. She wasn't going to let Morgan leave the way Alexandra and Cantabile had. _

_He may have forced his way into her life, but he couldn't force his way out if he wanted to._

* * *

Isabell knew now that Van had been twisting the truth and manipulating her to get her to join, he easily could have gone through with his plans without her, it was just nice to have her there.

She didn't actually know that for sure though. They did have history on Hod, so it was fully possible that he did actually care for her. She didn't have to question that he cared for his sister, after all. She just didn't quite understand how he would turn his sword against her for his plan once he found that Tear had no intentions of going along with him.

His words had led her to have a certain hatred for Jade, so when she learned that he was traveling with her sister, she was concerned that he would corrupt her, but when she had a few conversations with him, and they ended up together in the Absorption Gate, she was surprised to find that he wasn't nearly as evil as she thought he was.

It was strange for her to realize that she, in fact, was the one to be corrupted.

But not anymore.

"Why would you even be offering me this?" Isabell asked, turning away from the white-haired man, "As I recall, the last time we met, I came close to bashing your skull in."

The grin Dist wore only moments before when he had asked her to rejoin the Generals vanished, "I'm offering this on Mohs' orders. My feelings about that incident have not changed. It took three hours to wash the blood from my hair!"

She resisted the urge to laugh as she turned away from him, the golden ring hanging from a chain around her neck catching the light shining through the window as she turned. She noticed Dist's eyes dart to the ring before she had her back to him. "Whatever, you can tell Mohs I'm not interested, and nothing is about to change that."

"Who was that young man you were so fond of?" Dist asked, causing Isabell to stop in her tracks, "His name was Morgan Reily, am I wrong?"

Isabell paused, "Why would you care?"

"If I told you," Dist started, floating around her in his chair so they were face to face again, reaching out and lifting the ring between his thumb and forefinger, "That I was getting closer to creating a perfect replica - one who had their original's memories - would it change your mind at all?"

Isabell glared at him and snatched the ring out of his grasp. She knew it couldn't be true, but...

"What would Mohs need me for?"

"It has to do with that duplicitous snake, Jade, and the rest of his gang. The Fon Master is also a key part of his plan."

Isabell rolled her eyes, "And why would he think I would want any part in that?"

"We anticipated you wouldn't be so willing at first," Dist drawled, "Mohs would prefer you not to cause trouble for him like when you decided to go against Van in the Absorption Gate and join the Jade Gang-"

"Would you _please_ not call them that? It's ridiculous. You can say whatever you want, anyway. I won't help you this time."

Dist glared at her before continuing, "Then perhaps you can think of it this way: if you rejoin us, you can control what happens to your little sister. If not, we can easily get someone for the job who cares not for if she lives or dies."

Isabell stared at him for a few moments, not knowing how to respond to him.

"Are you going to give me an answer or not?" Dist drawled, "What do you say, Garcia? The casual look doesn't quite suit you - perhaps it's time to change back into your uniform."

...

For a long time, he didn't care about whether or not he lived. But after he watched Sync willingly fall into the depths of the core, he changed his mind on the matter.

It wasn't that he wanted to die, but rather, he wanted to choose how he died. He wanted his death to be meaningful, he wanted it to be the death of someone who had lived for something. He wanted to die with the feeling that he had lived for a reason.

Before he left Daath, he didn't think he was living for anything.

He spent his two years of life knowing he was a replica, knowing he was meant to be nothing more than a replacement for the real Fon Master. After spending time with his friends, and watching Luke grow, he realized something.

He didn't have to be just a replacement for the Fon Master, used only for the Score, he could be more than that.

He didn't have to live life by the Score - no one did. They could choose their own paths, most just chose not to. They didn't understand that the Score was their to give them all helpful advice on what can be done about a situation, not what _had_ to be done.

Perhaps he was the only one who saw just how easy it could be to change how people used the Score. It didn't have to be abolished, nor used for every little thing.

Mohs clearly couldn't understand that. It was obvious he was planning something that very well could lead to Ion's death, and as his journey with his friends went on, it was becoming quite clear that Anise had been forced to work with him. He knew Mohs must have had something on her to force her to co-operate, and that whatever it was Mohs was planning, she didn't really want to do it. He held nothing against the young girl, he cared too much for her to want her out of his life.

Whatever it was Mohs was planning, something that more than likely had to do with the Score, it wasn't how Ion wanted to die. That, he knew already.

Ever since watching Sync fall in the core, he had been searching for a way to die.

Every time he thought about the subject of his death, his mind landed on Tear. He could save her from her miasma contamination. He would do it willingly, he wouldn't mind dying for a friend. It would certainly add meaning to his life - and his death. But he knew she wouldn't be as happy about Ion dying for her, that was just how Tear was. That was one of the reasons why he hadn't done it yet, she hadn't become so ill there was no other way to save her, and there had been no good times for him to really even bring the idea up. With the miasma gone, Tear's condition had also become stable, so it would be years before it got out of hand, if it ever would.

But if the need came for Ion to save her himself, then he would do it in a second. He hoped Tear would forgive him for it, and Anise, too.

Anise was one of the reasons he hesitated, he didn't know what it was Mohs had on her. Ion knew her parents were poor, and were working in the cathedral for no pay because of something Mohs had done to help them out, so it was highly possible Mohs was holding Oliver and Pamela hostage. If that was true, then Ion didn't know what Mohs would do to them if he took Tear's contaminated fonons into himself and died before Mohs could go through with his plan.

Ion sighed and looked up from the report Tear had written detailing the increasing Planet Storm. His friends had left the day before, and he had only just found the time to look through the report after all the meetings and a public announcement to the city of Daath, in attempts to calm them down about the Score. He had by now done several of them, and they only ever worked for a few hours before the people would start acting up again. He would likely make another announcement in a couple days.

His green eyes landed on a vase of flowers he and Anise had picked outside a few days before when he had wanted some fresh air. The flowers, begonias, were already wilting.

It had only been a day, and he was already missing her. He had only had a few minutes to catch up with the others, and he hadn't seen Jade, Natalia, or Alex in over a month. He was missing them all, and wished he would have been able to go with them.

Although he was never of any use to them, he did always enjoy time with his friends.

* * *

_**Hope you enjoyed it! I'm not quite sure how I'm doing with Cantabile since I can't find a whole lot of info on how she acts. :P**_

_**Please review!**_

_**In the next chapter of Not What it Seems:**_

"You know, I always wanted to ask you if you could teach me how to tend to flowers," Alex called over to the older man as she approached. He looked up from his gardening and watched as she walked over to him. He narrowed his eyes for a few second before-

"Miss Alexandra, is that you?" Pere asked, his eyes widening as he stood to bow out of habit, "I hardly recognized you."

Alex laughed, "Just call me Alex, okay? And no more bowing either. I'm not a noble, you know that."


	52. Together Again

_**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! And thanks to Doveflight for reviewing about 20 times on the chapters so far and taking up almost an entire page to herself. xD Awesome.**_

_**Once again I got an idea in this from the livejournal taleslations site.**_

_**I lost an entire section of this chapter because my computer chose a really bad time to restart and update without warning me. Or I was too in the zone to notice it warning me, either way, it pissed me off because I had to rewrite the entire part. -_- The original version I had of it probably would have been better. Oh well.**_

_**Enjoy the chapter! Feel free to drop a review at the end. :)**_

* * *

_Chapter 52: Together Again  
_

She had never felt so small and insignificant in her life, and the large buildings and the many levels of the city of light towering high into the sky above did nothing to help that feeling.

Anise was worried about what was going on in Daath. What was Mohs doing while they were running around Auldrant and Ion was left all alone? Back home all she could really do was hope Dist was unable to break out and save Mohs, but unfortunately, every thing had seemed to work out. Now all she could do was hope her letter wouldn't make it to Mohs.

She felt bad about lying to everyone, though her feelings on that matter barely scratched the surface on how she felt about lying to poor Ion. She wished that they weren't always so trusting. At least the colonel seemed to pick up on her acting suspicious, but the rest of them were clueless as far as Anise could tell. She wished she could just tell them what was going to happen to Ion, but what would happen to her parents if she did?

Anise tried to keep her mind off of things by talking with the others, but that only helped for so long. Alex was still acting a bit snappy at times, though she seemed to be almost back to the way she was before the group went their separate ways after the Absorption Gate. It made Anise wonder just what kind of things the Colonel had her doing in St. Binah that could cause so much stress.

Or maybe her frustrations had more to do with her being back in Baticul for the first time. That made more sense.

Anise had heard Luke had most of her things sent to Grand Chokmah so she could avoid having to return to the manor, so Anise could only imagine what Alex could be feeling having to go back. At least she hopefully wouldn't have to set foot in the manor.

It was already getting dark by the time they reached Baticul, so they headed straight for the castle. Of course that meant taking several different air carts and lifts to get to the highest level of the city, so it was still taking them a while to get to their destination.

One of the lifts they opted to take was too small to hold the entire group, so the men went ahead while the girls waited for the lift to return.

Tear and Alex were both oddly silent as they waited, but Anise had too much on her mind to really care. They were all exhausted from the days events, anyway, they probably didn't have anything as serious to worry about as she did.

"So what were you reporting to Ion in your letter?" Alex asked suddenly, most likely to break the awkward silence around them.

"Oh, that?" Anise replied with a noncommittal shrug, "I just made a report on the attacks and Frings and all that."

Tear nodded, "Yes, Ion knew Frings as well. His death would be hard on him as well."

"Y-yeah," Anise agreed, staring at her feet. She suddenly wished she had sent a letter to Ion at least explaining that.

The lift finally reappeared moments later, and the three girls took no time in moving toward it.

As Tear and Alex walked onto the lift and waited for her to join them, Anise stopped in her tracks, "Um... Tear, Alex?... What would you think if..."

Anise noticed the girls in front of her share a look before turning back to her, waiting for her to continue. What was Anise thinking? She couldn't tell anyone, her parents could get hurt!

"Never mind!" Anise said, putting on her best fake smile. Tear and Alex looked very confused at the sudden change in demeanor, and watched in silence as Anise skipped onto the lift and pressed the button to start it up. She began to hum a random tune as the lift clanked and whirred into motion, trying to ignore the strange looks she was receiving from the other two girls.

"Anise..."

The younger girl stopped her humming and turned to face Alex, who was giving her a look that said she knew something was up. Tear had a similar look in her eye.

Alex sighed, "I think, if you know something's going to happen...and you have the power to stop it, then you should at least try to prevent it from happening."

Anise stared at her feet as Alex and Tear continued to stare at her, there was no way Alex could have figured it out, was there? No, if they had figured it out, they would already be trying to save Ion. Anise had been acting pretty suspicious, all they must have known is that _something_ was up.

"Is there something you want to tell us, Anise?" Tear asked, the eye not hidden by her bangs showing concern.

Anise looked away from the two older girls again, "N-no... It's nothing..."

"If you're sure..." Alex shrugged as the lift came to a stop on the top level of the city and they spotted the boys standing by the small pond in front of the castle, "We'll drop it for now, the other's are probably waiting for us. Let's keep moving."

They were all too tired to really say anything to each other as they rejoined and kept moving toward the castle, but Anise did notice Alex whispering something to Jade, who nodded and quietly replied, and figured it had to be about her. Even while trying to ignore them, she could practically feel his red eyes on her.

She knew she wished that they would be more suspicious of her for Ion's sake, but whenever they did start watching her more closely, it annoyed her.

"I hope Natalia's back," Luke said as they stopped in front of the great doors of the castle, "We could really use her help."

"Did you call me?"

"Wha-?" Luke spun on the spot, and the others did the same, albeit more calmly. They were faced with Natalia herself, looking even more exhausted than they were. "What are you doing here?"

"She does _live_ here," Alex deadpanned, and Luke glared at her in response.

"I just returned from Chesedonia," Natalia signaled for the soldiers accompanying her to leave before approaching them, fixing a glare on the Colonel, "Actually, I was just wanting to have a word with you."

The second she reached the Colonel she reached out and grabbed him forcefully by the collar. He barely blinked in surprise as he was forced to lean over to accommodate for the difference in their heights.

"My, my!"

"As unconcerned as ever, I see!" Natalia said, still glaring, "Perhaps you can explain to me just what's going on. The Kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear has taken no military action against the Malkuth Imperial Forces!"

"Ah, that's what I thought."

Natalia gave a derisive laugh, "'Ah, that's what I thought'?! Do you not have anything more on the matter to say?! Everyone in Chesedonia stared at me like I was a demon! It was insulting! My soldiers and I had to leave the city to avoid causing riots by the townspeople. Please tell me this wasn't all just some show of Malkuth force?"

"That's what we've come to talk about, Natalia," Luke said, carefully pulling her arms away from the colonel."Could you get us an unofficial audience with His Majesty?"

Natalia took a deep breath to calm herself before nodding, "Certainly. Let's discuss the details in Father's room."

Everyone nodded and followed her into the castle and through the hallways leading to King Ingobert's chambers, all too tired to talk or give Natalia a proper greeting. Even the Colonel seemed to be too tired to give a sarcastic remark on Natalia's behavior mere moments before. They all just wanted to get the audience over with so they could get some well-deserved rest.

After entering Ingobert's chambers and allowing Natalia to explain to him why they were all there to speak to him, Jade had Guy make quick work of explaining everything that had happened from the attacks on Chesedonia and St. Binah, to General Frings' death. Natalia and Ingobert both listened quietly at the head of his meeting table as Guy was explaining.

"I see," Natalia sighed once he was finished explaining, "So that's what happened."

"I have issued no orders to attack Malkuth," Ingobert explained.

"Indeed," Natalia agreed, "My country is innocent."

"Then who _was_ it that attacked General Frings?" Guy asked.

"He said the eyes of the unidentified soldiers were like those of the dead," the Colonel sighed, hands in his pockets, "That concerns me."

Anise knew he had already figured out the soldiers were replicas, but did he know their origins and purpose? She decided not to say anything on the matter while everyone else talked about it.

"Does that mean something to you?" Luke asked.

The Colonel adjusted his glasses, "Similar cases have appeared in connection with fomicry experiments. With the God-Generals involved, it's possible that they have created replica soldiers."

"Replicas," Luke sighed, staring at his feet, "The same as me..."

Except they weren't, really. Anise had been around a couple of them after their creation and knew that they were basically just dolls; puppets made to do Mohs' bidding. They didn't have normal thoughts or feelings the way Luke did.

"This is an outrage!" Ingobert shouted, pounding his fist on the table, "What could they gain from impersonating my kingdom?"

"Perhaps they're trying to cause a war between Kimlasca and Malkuth," Tear suggested, her finger on her chin in thought.

"That's no different than Mohs."

"That's right... Dist took Mohs away," Guy agreed.

"If he's involved, he's probably trying to put the Score back on track by starting a war between the two countries," Alex said, looking disgusted by the thought of it. After her outburst earlier that day regarding her thoughts on the Score, it was no surprise to anyone that she wouldn't be impressed by such an idea, "Guess the peace treaty must have made it pretty impossible to convince King Ingobert or Emperor Peony to attack each other and start a war, he had to create replicas to do it for them."

And just like that, they'd figured it out. If only they could be that quick about everything.

Natalia turned to Ingobert, "Father, please allow me to go to Daath."

"Why Daath?" Ingobert asked as Anise's head shot up at Natalia's words. They couldn't go to Daath. If they did, she would have to...

"After our journey, I spent a long time thinking about the Score," Natalia explained, "The world has veered from the Score, yet countless people are still attached to it. They don't know how to live without it."

"It's scary not having it," Anise said as Alex rolled her eyes.

Natalia nodded before continuing, "I believe it would be best to hold a summit regarding what to do about the Score. Whether this incident was Mohs' work or not, we cannot allow any further foolish action in the name of the Score. And to do that, we need the cooperation of the Fon Master."

"That's not a bad idea," the Colonel admitted thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Luke agreed, "We have no clue where Asch went, and we don't know where Mohs is, either..."

King Ingobert thought for a moment, "Then I shall permit your departure, Natalia."

"Thank you, Father!"

"So we're going to Daath..." Anise said dejectedly. How could she change their minds on this?

"I think it's a good idea," Tear told her, "We need to tell them that my brother is possibly alive as well."

"I told them that in my letter!" Anise replied, hoping she could somehow get them to change their minds, "So let's pass, okay?"

Everyone gave her strange looks, and she felt those familiar red eyes watching her closely again before Luke spoke up, "What's the matter? You don't wanna go home?"

Anise hesitated, not knowing how she could say it, "No, it's not that-"

"Then let's go to Daath," Luke said, not letting Anise finish. Before she could try to speak up again, King Ingobert spoke and the conversation was suddenly on a completely different topic.

"Now that that's settled," Ingobert stood from his seat, "I insist you all spend the night here. You must be exhausted," he turned to look at Alex, "Would you be comfortable staying here in the castle, or shall I arrange for a room in the hotel?"

Alex looked slightly taken aback by the question, "Oh, um... Thank you for the offer, Your Majesty, but I don't want to be a burden. I'll stay here with everyone else."

"Are you sure?" Luke asked.

She nodded, "Yeah, let's just please not make this a big deal."

"Well, if you change your mind, don't hesitate to tell Natalia or myself," Ingobert told her, "We'll make the arrangements at once."

"I'm sure at least one of us would be willing to join you in the hotel," Jade added as Natalia and Luke led the way out of Ingobert's chambers. He spared a glance at Guy, who glared back at him.

"I'll just head to the manor, then," Luke said in an attempt to change the subject, "See you guys tomorrow."

"Wait up, I'll go with you," Guy told him, "Might as well visit Pere while I'm around."

"Do you mind if I tag along?" Alex asked, much to everyone's surprise.

"Really?" Guy asked while everyone turned to look at her.

"Yeah," Alex took a deep breath, "I think it might be good for me. I might be able to get some closure and, you know, put my past behind me."

Guy looked closely at her for a few moments, "Okay, if you're sure. We'll see you guys in the morning, then."

Natalia nodded, "All right. I'll show everyone else to the castle's guest rooms and send someone to escort Noelle here. Please get some rest, you three."

"Will do."

...

She wasn't entirely sure why she had decided to join Luke and Guy in the manor, and as they entered the familiar building, she quickly wished she hadn't asked to accompany them.

She was overwhelmed with feelings of nostalgia, and it almost made her sick to her stomach. She tried to convince herself that this experience would help her get over her past and move on as she looked around the entrance hall.

The place looked exactly the same as it always had, even the same group of maids stood on either side of the doorway to welcome them into the building. Ramdas even stood next to the door leading to the drawing room, as he usually did. Not much had changed since she'd last been there.

But so much _had_ changed...

"You all right?"

She turned to see both Guy and Luke looking at her closely, as if waiting for her to freak out.

"Yeah," she replied, trying to smile, "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just find Pere, okay?"

"My, how you've grown."

The sudden voice startled Alex, and she turned to find herself facing Suzanne, who had just left the drawing room.

The older woman was smiling a little sadly at her, and Alex couldn't help but feel awkward while greeting her. Suzanne made a comment about how different she looked since they'd last seen each other, and how much she seemed to have grown. Alex wasn't really listening, she wasn't sure of what to even say in the situation. The two boys stood behind her, looking as awkward and out of place as Alex felt.

Why in the hell did she choose to go with Luke and Guy?

Suzanne surprised her by asking her to accompany her in her quarters for tea, an offer she accepted, not knowing what else to say. She followed the woman she used to call 'Mother' out of the entrance hall, leaving Guy and Luke to their own devices.

She followed her through the drawing room and the adjacent hallway into the room she shared with the Duke, and found herself hoping against hope that he was out on business or with some other reason to be nowhere near the manor. She took the seat across from Suzanne at the small table in the corner of the room, and hardly a few moments later, Ramdas was in to serve tea.

Alex found herself avoiding looking at Suzanne by keeping her gaze steadily on the dark liquid in her cup.

"This must be hard for you," Suzanne finally said, and Alex forced herself to look up at her. She wore the same kind and almost comforting smile she always had, before it turned into a more serious look, "I am so sorry, for lying to you all those years."

Alex had to look away again, becoming suddenly fascinated by the floral design of the teapot in the center of the table. "You don't have to apologize."

"But I do," Suzanne pressed, "I knew full well your origins, and I kept them from you regardless. You had the right to know."

Alex wasn't sure what to even say anymore, it wasn't like she disagreed with her, but she didn't blame her either. Most of her anger was aimed at the Duke.

"I felt awful, lying to you. After a while I had convinced myself you truly were my daughter. I don't think I would have gone alone with what my husband suggested, I knew it would be cruel to raise you in our home after what happened. But even the Score had said it was for the best," the older woman continued, and Alex chose not to listen to the rest. She probably wouldn't know how to respond, anyway, without insulting the Score and the older woman's beliefs. She let Suzanne speak for a few minutes before deciding it was rude to ignore her when she was trying to make things right, and forced herself to pay attention to her words. "I know I may not have the right to say this, but part of me will always think of you as my daughter. Whether or not you choose to remain in my life would not change the fact that you are still someone I hold dear. I understand if you wouldn't, but I do hope you wouldn't be opposed to a friendly relationship. I understand if you wouldn't want to."

Alex realized it was her turn to say something, but she still didn't really know what she could say, "I... I need some time to think. Just being here is a little overwhelming, I doubt I can even stay in the castle tonight."

Suzanne nodded, she had probably been expecting this, "I understand. Take as much time as you need, just know you are always welcome here."

Alex nodded before standing up and bowing her head, "Thank you for the tea, but I should be going now."

She left the room quickly after excusing herself, and found that it was much easier to breath once she exited the hall into the courtyard. After finding a place to lean back with her head against a wall, she closed her eyes for a few moments. She should have just stayed in the castle with the others.

The sounds of the cicadas chirping, a sound that always used to annoy her, managed to calm her down a bit. Once she was feeling better, she opened her eyes and was greeted by yet another familiar sight: Pere tending to the gardens. She wondered if there was much need for him to be doing so at night, but shrugged it off. It was Pere, gardening was his life.

Alex smiled at the sight. Flowers could always relax her, no matter what was happening. While watching Pere, she thought back to all the times she had wanted to ask him to teach her how to garden.

She vaguely wondered if Guy had found him yet, as it was his reason for going to the manor in the first place. If he hadn't, she wondered why Guy wouldn't think to check the garden. It was almost a guarantee Pere could be found there, morning or night.

She pushed herself off the wall she had been leaning against and slowly walked over to him.

"You know, I always wanted to ask you if you could teach me how to tend to flowers?" Alex called over to the older man as she approached. He looked up from his gardening and watched as she walked over to him. He narrowed his eyes for a few second before-

"Miss Alexandra, is that you?" he asked, his eyes widening as he stood to bow out of habit, "I hardly recognized you."

Alex laughed, "Just call me Alex, okay? And no more bowing either. I'm not a noble, you know that."

They spoke for a few moments, and Pere said he would have happily taught her everything he knew about flowers if she wasn't so busy all the time. He was always happy to talk about flowers with someone.

"I remember teaching you once in Hod how to care for lilies. I remember Master Gailardia was particularly bored with us that day."

"That's funny. Lilies are actually my favorite, maybe that had something to do with it."

Pere smiled before turning to face the flower beds. There was a long pause before he spoke again, "Today is my last day tending to these gardens."

"You're leaving?"

He nodded, "Yes. I can no longer stay here now that His Grace knows my reasoning for accompanying Master Gailardia here."

"So he fired you," Alex frowned.

"I understand his reasoning for it. I'm a flight risk, so to speak. I have no hard feelings for it. I'm happy I had the chance to bring beauty to this courtyard, and I will leave with pride in knowing that."

There was another long pause before Pere spoke up once more.

"I have to thank you, as well."

"Me?" Alex asked, "What for?"

"You, and Master Luke as well, were enough of a reason for Master Gailardia not to go through with his revenge. I would have hated to see such a fine young man lose himself to hatred, no matter how justified he may have been."

"You don't have to thank us," Alex told him, "I don't think he would have gone through with it anyway. I don't think he would be able to kill so many innocent people for the sake of revenge, especially not after getting to know them all. And honestly, he only turned out so great because of how you raised him."

"I have grown to think of him as something of a grandson," Pere admitted, "I only wish I could have done something about his phobia. I'll have to leave that to you."

Alex coughed, she was glad it was dark out, or he would have noticed her red face. She decided to change the subject before he could go on.

"Maybe one day you can come to Grand Chokmah, and then I can take you up on your offer to teach me about flowers."

Pere smiled, "Perhaps one day I will, but for now I think I'll return to St. Binah. I lived there with Master Gailardia before coming here for a while, and I remember the city had such beautiful gardens. After falling into the Qliphoth, I would love to have the chance to return some of that beauty. It might help to give the residents good spirits in this time."

"It probably will," Alex admitted, "Do you know where Guy went? It's getting late, I should probably find him."

Pere suddenly wore a more serious look, "Yes, he told me he was heading back to the main entrance a little while before you came."

"I wonder if he left," Alex asked, more to herself than the older man, "Thanks, Pere. Maybe we'll see each other again soon."

"I hope your travels will find you well."

Speaking to Pere had managed to calm her nerves about being in the manor quite a bit, she realized as she reentered the manor and headed for the main entrance. Without the distraction, some of the anxiety was coming back. She was really ready to leave.

She opened the door to the main entrance and spotted Guy, who stood staring at a brilliant sword hanging from the pillar in the middle of the room. She was curious, she had seen him staring at that sword many times in the past. Clearly it meant something to him, and she had to wonder what.

His eyes were cloudy, and he didn't even notice her as she approached him.

"Guy?"

Guy jumped slightly when she said his name, but relaxed when he saw her standing beside him. His gaze slowly moved back to the brilliant sword on the pillar. "You know this sword has an interesting history?"

Alex turned to look at the sword as well, "Really?"

Guy paused, "Yeah... The Duke won it in a great battle. He brought it back with another token of his victory."

Alex wasn't sure she wanted to know what that token was, but she asked anyway, "And what was that?"

"His head," Guy said slowly before taking in a deep breath, "The commander of his enemy's head."

"Guy," Alex was pretty certain of what Guy was talking about, "Are you talking about the Hod War? Your father was the commander, right? This was his sword?"

Guy didn't respond to her questions, and avoided her gaze. Alex decided she didn't like seeing him like this. He was always so calm and cool, she often forgot he had problems of his own to deal with because of how he always put others before himself.

Thinking about it, he must have gotten pretty good at acting, it would be strange if he was actually as happy as he seemed working and living in the manor all those years. He did originally enter the manor for revenge, after all.

"I'm sorry," Alex said quietly, she wasn't quite sure what else to say. When he turned his head to look at her, she saw that he looked confused, as if wondering why she would be apologizing.

"I caught you looking at this sword once a few years ago and explained that the Duke won it and how happy I was that he did. I was so stupid back then," she sighed. Forgetting where they were, she reached out for his hand, "It must have been hard for you to see it here...and I just made it worse."

Guy smiled at her, "Nah, it wasn't like that at all. It's because this was here that I could keep going. And you didn't know, it's not like you were trying to get to me on purpose. It wasn't your fault. If I just told you from the beginning that-"

"Stop," Alex told him, she knew where he was heading with this, "You know you don't need to apologize about that anymore."

"Right," Guy scratched the back of his head with his free hand, "Sorry."

Alex groaned, "Didn't I just tell you to stop apologizing?"

"Well, yeah. But you told me to stop apologizing for not telling you you're from Hod. I wasn't apologizing for that."

"So now you're apologizing for apologizing?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow at him, "Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?"

"Oh, come on," Guy laughed, "Give me a break."

Alex smiled, "Have you talked to Pere yet? I was talking with him in the garden a few minutes ago."

"Yeah, I have," Guy nodded, "It was nice to catch up with him. He even taught me a new arte."

"Really? So fast?"

Guy laughed, "Well, not really. Our way of sword is passed down by word of mouth, so he'd actually been teaching me it for a while. We just ran out of time before Luke disappeared with Tear, and everything just kept happening after that. Tonight he gave me the final instructions and had me put everything he told me before together during a duel."

"And you pulled it off?"

Guy smiled, "Yep. Shining light spear is mine to use now."

Alex leaned into him slightly, "Is it as cool as it sounds?"

"I don't know," Guy laughed, "Maybe."

Suddenly, they heard someone clear their throat behind them, and immediately froze before slowly turning to face him.

Luke stood before them with his arms crossed and an unimpressed look on his face, and only then did Alex remember that she and Guy were holding hands. "So... You guys aren't a couple, huh?"

Mieu, on the other hand, looked positively delighted at the discovery.

"Sorry, Luke," Guy said, nervously scratching the back of his head.

"We just weren't ready to tell yet," Alex explained, her face red as she let go of Guy's hand.

This apparently did nothing to help Luke's feelings on the matter, "You could have at least told _me_!"

"Well, you know now, so what's the difference?" Alex asked.

Luke opened his mouth to respond when they all noticed whispering and looked closely behind Luke where five maids stood in a tight group. Alex immediately recognized them as five of Guy's biggest fan girls in the manor, and knew this wasn't about to go anywhere good. Guy seemed to have the same thoughts, because he backed away a few paces as soon as they noticed the girls.

They were whispering just loud enough for them to hear.

"Did you see that?"

"He was holding her hand..."

"That must mean he's over his phobia!"

"Should we...?"

"Yes, I want to touch him, too!"

Before they even knew what was happening, Luke and Alex were pushed to the side as the five squealing girls surrounded Guy, who was looking very terrified with the situation. He attempted to get away from them, but to no avail. He only ended up being trapped against the pillar holding up his father's sword.

"So maybe not everything's changed," Alex thought out loud.

Luke laughed, "Come on, we should help him before he passes out."

"Just like old times," Alex rolled her eyes, "I'll get Ramdas. If I get involved in that it'll probably just push Guy over the edge."

Luke nodded before approaching the group of maids who were now all attempting to hug Guy, while the blonde in question was trying to push them all away. The scene looked very much the same when Alex returned with Ramdas a few moments later, with Luke hovering behind the girls, not sure what to do.

The second Ramdas cleared his throat, the squealing stopped, and the girls all turned to look at him. Once they noticed who it was, they all quickly moved away from Guy. Alex was constantly amazed by how much control Ramdas had over the maids, most of whom seemed to have very little in the way of brains from what she remembered.

"Might I inquire as to why you are all giving Young Master Luke's guests a hard time?" Ramdas asked, to which the girls bowed their heads in what looked like shame. When it became apparent that no one was going to answer, Ramdas continued, "Unless you wish for me to speak of this to His Grace, you will all get back to work at once."

"Yes, sir," the maids chorused before leaving the entrance hall one by one.

"Thanks, Ramdas," Luke said as a shaken Guy slid down the pillar that was currently supporting his weight. Ramdas simply bowed before following the maids into the adjacent hallway.

"So obviously you guys have a lot of work to do on the phobia," Luke continued once they were the only ones left in the room.

"I think anyone would be a little shaken after that," Alex pointed out.

Guy nodded stiffly from his seat on the floor, and Alex figured it would be best to keep her distance from him for the time being.

"I'm guessing you want me to keep your relationship a secret?"

"It would be appreciated, yes."

Luke shrugged, "All right. But when everyone knows, I don't want to see anything past hand holding from you guys. So no kissing."

Alex blushed as she agreed. It wasn't exactly like she was comfortable doing that sort of thing in public anyway.

Luke nodded and turned to Guy for his answer. He merely shrugged, "I can't make any promises."

Alex sighed, hoping he was just saying that to bug Luke. She was never really fond of the idea of public displays of affection. "Right, well I think I'm gonna head to the hotel before it gets too late."

"The hotel?" Luke asked, "I thought you were staying in the castle with the others."

"I don't think I can," Alex admitted, faking a small smile so they wouldn't be worried, "It's been hard enough just staying here for a couple hours."

"I'll go with you," Guy said while standing up. Most of the shock seemed to have worn off. "It's dark out, and the hotel isn't exactly close. The city's not really safe at night."

Alex had figured Guy would want to stay in the manor so he could catch up with Pere, but agreed to his offer all the same. She was too tired to argue with him about something so small.

After saying goodnight to Luke, they went to leave the manor, but a familiar man Alex was hoping to avoid entirely entered the room before they could.

"Alexandra..."

Alex determinedly met his eyes, "Your Grace."

If he felt uncomfortable by Alex's use of his title, he didn't show it, "Suzanne tells me you have chosen to stay in the hotel tonight. You both realize you are welcome to stay here or in the castle?"

Alex wanted to think Suzanne had put the words in his mouth, but he seemed serious. She liked to think it was Suzanne who made the original offer anyway, "Thank you for your hospitality, but I'd rather stay the night in the hotel."

"At least let us cover the cost of your room, then."

Again, Alex had the feeling that this was Suzanne's offer and not his. Even if it wasn't it wouldn't have exactly impressed her. Even the Duke would have to know covering the cost of a single hotel room as a sort of apology for everything would be more of an insult than anything else.

"That won't be necessary-"

"I insist," the Duke pressed, "There's little room for argument, the cost has already been covered."

Then why even ask? Alex was about to respond when Guy cut in.

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Grace," he said, bowing in respect. Alex had to look away from him and suppress the urge to roll her eyes. The man hardly deserved any respect from them in her eyes, even if it wasn't sincere. It was all she could do not to call him 'Asshole' when speaking to him.

"Suzanne also wishes for me to tell you that you are welcome here any time," the Duke continued, and Alex chose not to look at him again. "I...would like to express the same. I would also like to...apologize for lying to you all those years."

"Please, don't," Alex told him. It was much easier for her to hate him if he didn't.

The Duke turned to Guy, "I witnessed your duel with Pere in the courtyard. I have to say, I was impressed by your skill."

Guy looked a little shocked about the compliment, and Alex thought the man was trying too hard to seem kind. It seemed a little out of character for him to be acting this way, and Alex didn't like it at all. She just wanted to leave and be away from him, then maybe the boiling anger in the pit of her stomach would dissipate. She was already looking anywhere in the room but directly at him to avoid lashing out.

"I'm sure you must resent an article of your father's being displayed in his killer's home."

Alex's eyes snapped in the direction of the Duke, who was now looking at Guy. Why would he even bring that up? Luke looked a bit confused by the words, as he had no idea what the man was talking about.

"I would be lying if I said I didn't."

"Father," Luke said, "What are you talking about?"

"This sword belonged to the late Count Zygmunt Bazin Gardios," Pere explained, catching everyone off guard. No one had heard him enter.

"Wait," Luke replied, "So this was Guy's father's sword?" Guy nodded, and Luke continued, "But wouldn't seeing it here be really hard for you."

"It was," Guy admitted, "But you taught me something important."

"Me?" Luke asked.

Guy nodded, "Yeah. You taught me that I can't stay shackled to my past."

"Luke taught you that?" the Duke asked.

Guy turned back to the Duke, "Yes. once Luke said something about the past he thought he had lost. 'You can't go forward if you keep looking back'. At the time, I thought what he said was irritating. But I decided to make a bet with him, anyway."

"A bet?" Luke asked.

Guy nodded again, "Yes. If the son of my father's killer, the man I hated more than anything, grew into someone who could make me feel loyalty to him, then maybe I'd lose my desire for revenge."

The duke thought for a moment, "Ah, I remember now. It wasn't too long after Luke returned form the kidnapping. He mentioned a bet you made with you on whether he could become an adult worthy of you pledging your sword."

"Right. And Luke won that bet."

"Then you believe Luke has matured into a person of such value?"

"I believe he's working hard to be one," Guy shrugged, "That's good enough for me. He made up his mind to change himself. If he can do it..."

"Then so can you..." the Duke finished thoughtfully, "I see. In that case, I would like you to take this sword, and with it, pledge eternal loyalty - no, eternal friendship to Luke."

Everyone was shocked, to say the least, by his words. Alex wasn't honestly sure whether she should be more shocked about him returning the sword, or about how cheesy he made the offer sound.

"Wha-" Luke was clearly still the most confused about what was happening, "Father!"

"This child has no father," he replied, "Not because he is a replica, but because I, his own father, tried to kill my own son in accordance with the Score. He cannot possibly call me his father. Unlike me, you looked after and cared for Luke. You are his brother, his father, and an irreplaceable friend."

As the Duke took the sword off the pillar and handed it to Guy, who accepted it gratefully, Luke cut in , his face starting to turn a bit red, "I'm not going through any weird loyalty ritual! We're fine the way we've always been, Guy!"

They both seemed to be ignoring everything Luke said, because Guy was soon kneeling before him anyway, much to the redhead's obvious discomfort. Alex wasn't quite sure what she was meant to do in this situation either, so she and Pere merely watched in awkward silence.

After the ritual, which was extremely short and awkward all around, the Duke spoke up again, "I'm happy knowing that sword will be put to use by its rightful owner, Guy. I'm sorry."

Even Alex had to admit it was a good apology, or a good start for one anyway. But despite the kindness, he was still responsible for killing Guy's parents.

"You would be a fool to ever fully forgive me for what I took from you," he said, and for once, Alex fully agreed.

Throughout the conversation, Alex started to sense real sincerity in his words, and was beginning to find it harder and harder to really loathe him. It didn't stop her from trying, though.

The Duke left the room once he was finished what he had to say. Luke was still looking quite awkward, and soon excused himself before going to bed. Both Guy and Pere looked really content now that the former was holding his father's sword in his hands.

"Congratulations, Guy," Alex said, not really knowing what else to say.

"Thanks," he replied with a bright smile.

"Will you two be leaving now?" Pere asked.

Alex looked over to Guy, wondering the same thing.

"Actually, I think I want to talk to Pere a bit more, if you want to hang out here a bit longer?"

Alex shook her head, "I'm pretty tired, I'll just go ahead. You stay and talk to Pere."

"Are you sure? The city's pretty big, and I know it better than you-"

"I'll be fine," Alex told him, "There are a lot of knights out on patrol around this time, right? I'll just ask one of them for directions if I lose my way."

Guy still seemed a little hesitant, but reluctantly agreed.

"Good," Alex forced a tired smile, "I'll see you in a little while, then."

Hardly a few minutes and a lift ride later, she was regretting yet another decision she had made in the past few hours.

Once she exited the lift into a street that probably would have been busy during the day, she realized she had absolutely no idea where the hell she even was, let alone where the hotel was. Which level was it on? Alex wanted to say the second one... Wait...which level was _she_ on, again?

Damn, her sense of direction sucked. She probably should have at least asked Guy where it was before she left the manor.

Thank Yulia the fonon lanterns throughout the streets were there, or she'd be completely screwed.

"Lost?"

Alex jumped at the sudden voice and realized she had been standing in the same place, staring absently around the street for a few minutes. She turned to see a young man in a knight's uniform looking at her from across the street, only he wasn't wearing his helmet. She still couldn't make out his appearance from where she was standing, though.

"I've seen that look a thousand times since moving here," the knight said in a friendly voice as he made his way over to her, "You need help getting somewhere?"

Now that he was closer, she could make out russet brown eyes and messy brown hair. She couldn't help but think that the man was very attractive, but quickly banished the thought from her mind.

"Y-yeah," she replied, "Could you give me directions to the hotel?"

He grinned and nodded at her, "You're in luck. My shift just ended, I can show you the way if you want."

"Really?" Alex asked, relief flooding through her, "That would be amazing, thank you."

"Don't worry about it. It's pretty much on my way home, the residential district isn't far from the hotel. I'm Gerard, by the way."

"Alex."

He held out his hand, which she took, "Well then, it's nice to meet you, Alex."

She smiled as she shook his hand, "You too. I'd probably be screwed if you hadn't been here."

Gerard laughed as he started leading the way, "So, where are you from? You're obviously not from around here."

Alex thought it probably wasn't a good idea to say she was from Hod if she wanted to avoid questions, and it would be pretty embarrassing to admit she had lived in Baticul most of her life and had no idea how to get around. "Grand Chokmah. I'm here visiting some friends."

Gerard let out a low whistle, "That's a long trip. I've heard it's beautiful there."

"It is really nice. It rains a lot."

They shared an awkward laugh and a smile, then silence followed for a few moments before Gerard broke it.

"You have a pretty smile."

Alex was taken aback by the sudden comment, and couldn't help but blush slightly while raising an eyebrow at him. His forwardness with comments like that did remind her of a certain someone. She cleared her throat awkwardly, "Well, that was out of nowhere."

Gerard laughed, "Speaking of out of nowhere, I know this is kind of sudden, seeing as we just met and everything, but would you want to join me for dinner? There's a restaurant in the hotel. You seem nice, I'd like to get to know you a little."

"Um..." Alex didn't really know what to say, "You don't mean...like a date, do you?"

Gerard smiled, "You know what, a date sounds nice."

Alex's voice rose a few octaves and she picked up her pace, beginning to leave him behind, "You know, I think I can find my way to the hotel from here! Thanks for your help and everything-"

"I can take that as a no, then?"

"S-sorry," Alex said, and they both stopped in their tracks, "I just-"

"Oh," Gerard's eyes widened slightly, "Oh! You have a boyfriend. Sorry, I didn't know. Probably should have guessed, a girl as cute as you."

Alex cleared her throat, "You're not really helping."

Gerard laughed, "I was just kidding. I left most of my friends in Daath a while back, I have a few friends here, but I still like to talk to new people. Come on, the hotel's not far from here."

Alex nodded absently as he walked past her and continued leading the way. It took her a couple seconds to realize he may have just made fun of her, but decided it was better not to care about whether or not this random guy actually thought she was cute. She went with a different subject instead.

"So you'll still take time out of your night to lead me back to the hotel knowing I have a boyfriend?" Calling Guy her boyfriend sounded strange to say out loud, but she was starting to get used to it.

"I told you, it's no big deal," Gerard shrugged, "And that's not why I was helping you, anyway. I'm one of those people that enjoys talking, so I like the company. That is, if you don't mind spending the time with me."

"Well..." Alex started, "It's dark, I'm alone in a huge city I have very little experience with, and I have a horrible sense of direction, so...I think I can put up with you for a while longer."

Gerard laughed, "Well, good. But I thought you said you could find your way from here?"

"Yeah...I lied about that..."

Gerard smiled again, "Alright, the hotel's only a little ways from here. And about that dinner? Don't worry, it won't be a date."

Alex sighed, taking note of the fact that she was actually pretty hungry after the long day, "I guess. But you'll be the one explaining to Guy. He doesn't admit it, but he gets pretty jealous."

Gerard shrugged as they got into an aircart leading to a lower part of the city and he pressed the button to get it moving, "That shouldn't be a problem."

They spoke casually the rest of the way to the hotel, and wasted no time in getting food once they arrived. Alex felt strange eating with some guy she never met, and most of her hoped Guy was still talking with Pere, she was worried he would automatically think Gerard was another Cameron if he saw her with him. Alex wasn't too worried if he was like that, they lived on opposite sides of the map, so it wasn't like it would be a problem even if he was.

A few minutes into dinner, Guy entered the hotel and spotted them. He looked a little confused when he noticed Gerard, who looked behind him when he noticed Alex watching Guy.

"I take it that's your boyfriend."

"Yeah," she replied, "Pretend you're interested in fontech."

"What?"

"Just trust me," she whispered as Guy made it to their table, "Hey, Guy."

"Hey," he replied as he sat down, still looking a bit confused, "So who's...?"

"I'm Gerard," he held out his hand, which Guy hesitantly took, "I guess it's not really cool of me to be having dinner with your girlfriend, huh? Sorry, man. I don't like eating alone."

Guy still looked a little confused despite the introduction.

"Gerard helped me get here," Alex explained, "You were right, I probably should have waited for you."

Before Guy could asked any more questions about the mysterious man, Gerard cut in.

"Hey, so I heard from Alex you know a lot about fontech? Can I ask you a question? I've been having trouble with something..."

And suddenly any suspicions Guy had about Gerard were gone. his eyes lit up and he launched into an explanation of whatever problem Gerard may or may not have actually been having. As predicted, Guy was off in his own little world the second fontech was mentioned. Gerard looked a little amazed at how Guy could change his demeanor so quickly and keep talking so quickly, but after Guy had been going for a few minutes while the brunette nodded occasionally in response, he looked over to Alex as if asking if this was normal behavior. She merely mouthed an apology as an answer.

After a few more minutes, she decided enough was enough, and managed to change the topic, much to Guy's disappointment and Gerard's apparent relief. As the two of them kept talking, they realized they had been going to the same dojo in town for training, and wondered how they hadn't met each other before. It wasn't long before Alex was feeling like a third wheel, and took notice of the time. It was nearly midnight, and they had to be up in just a few hours.

She got Guy's attention and told him she was going to bed, and only then did he seem to notice the time and got up as well.

"If you're ever in Baticul again, we should do some training," Gerard said as he also stood up.

"Sounds good," Guy replied, "Same goes if you're ever in Grand Chokmah."

Alex and Guy had to get up earlier than everyone else in order to meet outside the castle the next morning. The others didn't seem exactly surprised that Alex had opted to stay in the hotel after all, nor did they seem particularly surprised that Guy had accompanied her. Either that, or everyone was just too tired to say anything about it, the sky was still tinted pink when they met up, after all.

"Everyone ready?" Luke asked once they were all together.

Everyone nodded in response, while a couple stifled yawns. Anise seemed the least eager out of all them to get going.

"Then we're off to Daath."

* * *

_**A/N: Hope you liked it. I'd been looking forward to this chapter for a while. **_

_**I know it's soon compared to the game for Guy to get his family's sword, but really with what I have planned for future chapters, I wouldn't have room to get this scene in later. And with that in mind there will be more major changes from now on.**_

_**Happy Belated Birthday, RubyMoonz, whose story 'Different Paths' is awesome. Gerard is her character, by the way, and the conversation between him and Alex (mostly the part where he asks her to hang out and have dinner with him) is from a conversation we had about him and Alex being a crack pairing that could work under certain circumstances (Alex never going to Baticul and meeting Guy again, for one) in an AU setting that also includes Gerard joining his family in moving to Baticul from Daath. But yeah, that entire scene was kind of a birthday shout-out for her. Plus Gerard's awesome so I wanted to throw him in. xD**_

_**The convo with Pere (which is the part I had to rewrite) I added because a long time ago RisingXxLawliet told me I should add a convo like that sometime because he gets like no credit, which I agree with. So she gave me the idea to add that part.**_

_**I ran out of time for this chapter so there's no preview for the next one this time.**_

_**Please review! It would mean a lot.**_


	53. Betrayal

_**A/N: Sorry I took a while. I was just feeling a bit unmotivated to keep working on this, what with fresher ideas for new stories among other things, so I thought maybe hosting another contest would help to motivate me into finally getting this chapter done, more on that at the end of this chapter.**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

* * *

_Chapter 53: Betrayal_

"I have to say, it is nice to have everyone back together again."

"Life in the castle too boring without all the insanity?" Alex mused, raising an eyebrow at the princess, who sat across from her on the Albiore as Noelle made preparations to fly to Daath. "I know my life wasn't exactly thrilling without Van and the God-Generals there to make it hell. Instead that task fell to the Colonel."

Tear couldn't help but smile slightly, she knew the feeling Alex was talking about well, minus having to be stuck with Jade, and she was sure she wasn't the only one who did.

"Like Jade didn't make our lives hell before," Luke said with a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah, well, you haven't been stuck in an office alone with him every day."

"Fair enough."

"You two do realize that I am right here?" Jade spoke up, holding his hand to his chest in attempt to feign heartache, "You're hurting this old man's fragile heart."

Tear sighed just as Guy spoke up, "Sure they are, Jade."

Natalia shook her head with a small smile at where the conversation had gone before going back to what it had originally started out as, "I wouldn't go so far as to say boring, I have been kept busy... However, without you all there with me to fulfill the tasks I had been set by my father, life has been...dull. I will settle for saying that I missed everyone."

"One might say the words 'dull' and 'boring' have the same meaning."

Natalia crossed her arms over her chest and gave Jade a deadpan stare, "I'm not certain I missed you as much as everyone else, Colonel."

"That hurt almost as much as Alex's comment," Jade replied, "I fail to see why you youngsters don't care for my presence."

"I think you're funny, Colonel!" Mieu spoke up, and everyone turned their heads to the small fur ball, not sure how to respond to the declaration.

"Why thank you, Mieu," Jade said, "It's nice to be appreciated for a change."

Alex and Luke rolled their eyes, "Whatever."

"Sorry for the delay," Noelle spoke up as she started up the Albiore, "We'll be in Daath in about three hours."

"Do we really have to go to Daath?" Anise asked, and Tear noticed just how quiet she had been up until then, "I don't think it's that important that we go...how about Yulia City instead? We can talk to Teodoro about the Score, can't we?"

Natalia shook her head, "That won't work, we must speak to Fon Master Ion."

"Anise," Alex started, "Why don't you want to go to Daath?"

"I never said I didn't _want _to go, I just..." she trailed off with a sigh, "Never mind."

Everyone exchanged glances before Natalia spoke up, "Perhaps it's because it has been so long since I last saw you, but you seem quite different."

Anise smiled nervously, "Oh, come on. I'm not the only one acting different, you can't say you didn't notice Alex has been a little cranky!"

"Well, yes," Natalia said thoughtfully, "But I had assumed that was because she had visited the manor and met with the Duke. That must have been stressful for her."

"Have I really been that bad?"

No one wanted to respond to Alex's question, and instead Luke patted her on the shoulder while Jade changed the subject back to Anise. "I'm afraid we're not speaking about Alex right now, Anise. You know we're a suspicious group, it only makes it worse when you try to change the subject."

"Tell us what's going on," Luke added.

"Nothing's going on!" Anise insisted.

"Did you have a fight with your parents?" Tear asked, tilting her head slightly to the side, "Is that why you don't want to see them?"

Anise remained quiet for a moment before a nervous laugh they had been hearing all too frequently as of late escaped her lips, "Yeah, that's what happened. I got into an argument with Mama and Papa about their debt, and it got out of hand, okay? So that's why I don't want to go to Daath."

The others exchanged glances, and it became clear to the melodist that she wasn't the only one who didn't believe Anise's words. There was a silent decision made to leave it alone, and the subject was dropped.

"While that may be reason enough for you to want to avoid Daath, it does little to sway the rest of us," Jade told her while adjusting his glasses, "You'll just have to avoid your parents if it comes to that, I'm afraid."

Anise's gaze went back to her feet, her bangs covered her eyes so Tear couldn't see the look on her face. She imagined the younger girl looked disappointed though.

The group felt a bit awkward for a few minutes afterward, with only the sound of the Albiore's engine to break the silence, so Tear decided another change in subject was in order.

"Guy, where did you get that sword? I'm sure I've seen it somewhere."

Guy looked a little shocked about the sudden question, and Natalia spoke before he could answer.

"Is that not the same sword displayed in Fabre manor?"

"It is, yeah," Guy replied, "It belonged to my father before he died."

"In that case, I'm happy for you for getting it back," Tear told him.

"Thanks," Guy said, "I am, too."

Alex smiled at him before speaking to the entire group, "So how do you think the people of Auldrant are going to react to this summit and the idea of living without the Score for good? They're already having riots."

"Yeah," Guy agreed, "I don't know if they'd really be able to go on without it."

"Yeah, whenever we've been faced with a decision, the Score has been there to guide us through it," Anise argued.

"But has it always told us the best answer?" Alex asked. Tear sensed it was about to get awkward again, she and most of the others already knew that Anise and Alex didn't see eye to eye on the Score. "Mohs seemed to think that war was better than peace between the two countries just because the Score said so."

"Yeah, well we're not all as brain-dead as Mohs," Anise shrugged.

"The Score foretold prosperity after the war," Tear said, "I think Grand Maestro Mohs was just doing what he thought was best for Auldrant."

"I don't really see how prosperity now without a war in the first place is better than years of war and then prosperity later."

Luke cleared his throat before Alex could continue, "Hey, Natalia, what do you think about it?"

"I don't know... The Score is embedded so deeply into society, even politics. The world _has _diverged from the Score, and we all understand why, but most people are unaware of the circumstances."

"That's true," Tear agreed, "They don't even know it's diverged from the Score in the first place. They all believe it's a part of the Closed Score."

"We can't just expect everyone to agree to living without the Score the second we mention it," Luke said, "They've pretty much already shown us they won't be happy about it."

"It is a guidepost to life, after all. It would be like telling someone to walk around in darkness without a light."

"It would more than likely take decades for people to accept a life without the Score," Jade said, "I myself will need some getting used to the idea of not getting the Score read on my birthday, after so many years of having it read."

"Yeah, yeah; you're old, we get it," Alex waved her hand down at him. Anise snickered at the comment while Jade made another of his suggestions for Alex to treat her elders with respect. "I think humanity will be better off without the Score in the long run. I'm totally fine with making my own decisions, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who is. People need to start thinking for themselves."

"Unfortunately, people are not that simple."

"I hate it when you say things like that, Colonel."

The entire rest of the way to Daath, Anise continued to fidget and appear as if she were off in her own little world. The others all grew more concerned for her, and watched her closely for the duration of the flight. Tear and Alex in particular were watching her like hawks for any signs of whatever it was she was hiding. It was obvious to them after the girl had almost admitted she was up to something in Baticul that something was wrong.

Anise didn't even seem to notice that all eyes were on her.

Her odd behavior worsened as Noelle landed the Albiore just outside of the city, only Tear was distracted from the girl the second the door opened and they all stepped outside.

Immediately, Tear began to feel faint. Her breathing slowed slightly, and she felt nauseated. It was very similar to when she activated the passage rings, only it was much easier on her.

She had no idea what could have caused the sudden feeling, she had just taken her medication a couple hours ago, there was no way it would wear off that quickly. On top of that, the miasma was gone, she wasn't supposed to be getting any worse.

"You okay, Tear?" Luke asked.

"Yes," she lied quietly, "I'm all right. I just suddenly felt a little dizzy, that's all." She was given away by a sudden coughing fit as they entered the city, and everyone turned their attention to her.

"You look really pale, Tear," Alex commented.

"Yes," Natalia agreed, "Have you taken your medication today?"

Tear nodded while the coughing subsided, "Yes, just a couple hours ago. Maybe my body's growing immune to it and it's wearing off faster."

"I doubt you'd look that pale if it was just your medication wearing off," Jade told her, "We should get her to a bed."

"I'll go tell Ion about this!" Anise exclaimed before running off in the direction of the cathedral.

"I'm all right," Tear insisted before she went into another coughing fit. The corners of her vision grew blurry, and before she knew what was going on, she was on the ground with Luke holding her up. The others stood around her, all wearing identical looks of concern.

"Forgive me for choosing to believe you aren't 'all right'," Jade said while adjusting her glasses.

"Is she getting worse?" Luke asked, panic in his voice.

"It shouldn't be possible for me to be getting any worse," Tear explained quietly as Luke helped her off the ground, "I haven't inhaled any more miasma."

"Still, something has to be wrong," Guy said, "We should get her to the cathedral, Anise is probably preparing a place to rest. Can you walk, Tear?"

"Yes..." Tear sighed, "I'm fine. Thank you."

They walked to the cathedral in silence. Luke had his arm around Tear for support the entire time, and though it was nice, at the same time it felt a bit awkward to her.

"Everyone!" When they entered the cathedral, they were greeted by Ion, who appeared as though he had run from his chambers to meet them. He looked out of breath. "Anise told me what happened to Tear."

"Fon Master," Tear greeted him, "I'm all right. I'm sorry to have worried you."

Ion shook his head, "Tear, you look far from all right to me."

"Hey, where did Anise go?"

Tear and the others scanned the room quickly after Guy's question. She hadn't even noticed the younger girl's absence until he mentioned it.

Ion looked socked at her absence as well, "That's strange. She said she was heading back to meet you all..."

"We haven't seen her," Alex said slowly. Tear noticed Jade adjust his glasses, and came to the same assumption he probably had. Anise was up to something, and whatever it was was the reason she didn't want to go to Daath. Her mind went back to when Anise began to ask Alex and herself that question in Baticul, but snapped back into reality when Ion spoke up again.

"She was probably just asked to do something for the Guardians before she could get back to you," Ion explained, "I'm sure she'll be back shortly. Let's all head to my room in the meantime, so Tear can rest."

One fonic glyph and an unnecessary amount of hallways later found them in Ion's chambers, with Tear resting in is bed. She felt awkward about taking his bed, but she was tired, and appreciated it all the same.

"Something isn't right," Ion said, after the others had explained what had happened to Tear, "Barring further exposure to the miasma, she shouldn't be this tired."

"The miasma could have pervaded the Planet Storm," Jade explained.

"That's possible?" Alex asked him.

He nodded, "Yes. If it is the case, then it should pass through the fon belt, exiting the atmosphere. It's impact shouldn't be great."

"But it seems to be enough for Tear to be getting worse," Guy said.

"So, wait... You mean if the Planet Storm continues to get stronger, more and more miasma will appear?" Alex asked.

Luke seemed the most concerned about this, "But then Tear will get worse!"

"Shouldn't we be more concerned with trying to remove the miasma from Tear's body?" Natalia asked.

"Doctor Shu said that was impossible," Tear replied.

Natalia looked dejected, "I wish there was something we could do to ease your pain."

Tear shook her head, "This is no one's fault. Natalia, weren't you going to propose that summit on the Score to the Fon Master?"

Natalia looked shocked at the change in subject, "Well, yes, but..."

"Actually," Ion said slowly, his green orbs watching Tear closely, "I do have an idea on how to remove the miasma from Tear's body." Everyone's gazes immediately moved to the Fon Master, even Jade looked surprised. "But to do it, I-"

"Ion! We have a problem!"

Before Ion had the chance to continue, Anise was in front of him, waving her arms around in a panic.

"Anise, just where have you been?"

"That's what I'm saying, we have a serious problem outside!" Anise told him, "The miasma's everywhere! Ion, please come quickly!"

Ion wasn't given the opportunity to respond before Anise grabbed him by the hand and dragged him out of the small room. Tear wasn't honestly sure what the Fon Master was meant to do about the miasma, but she had a bad feeling.

And she was sure it wasn't because of the miasma.

"We should go, too!"

"Tear, you should stay here," Natalia tried, "You may have fainted because of a strong sensitivity to the miasma."

Tear shook her head, "I'll be affected by it no matter where I am."

"You're always so damn stubborn," Luke said, looking a little annoyed.

"Stubborn, and right."

Luke sighed, "Fine, just don't push yourself."

"I won't. Thank you."

They wasted no more time in following Anise and Ion back to the main part of the cathedral. If there was ever a time when they were annoyed by the amount of hallways in the place, it was certainly then. They were getting particularly impatient by the time they reached the fonic glyph, and Tear was already almost out of breath by that time. Perhaps she should have stayed behind...

She was snapped out of her thoughts the moment they materialized again on the bottom floor of the cathedral, surrounded by Oracle Knights.

"What?!" Guy asked, as the knights all drew their blades and moved into a battle stance. Tear and the others were forced to draw their weapons as well, before they heard the familiar sound of a gun being loaded behind them.

Tear was quick to react - she spun on the spot and threw a couple of her knives in the direction the sound had come from. Major Legretta was just as fast in blocking one of them with her gun, while dodging the other completely.

"I've told you before, Tear, you throw too slowly," Legretta said, "Now, don't move!"

"What the hell is this?!" Luke demanded.

"We can't afford to have you meddling now. We also have a few questions about the Key of Lorelei. Now, behave yourselves."

A loud crash and a sudden rumbling of the ground interrupted her before she could ask any of her questions, and before any of them knew what was happening, a full grown liger was charging at them.

Tear and the others quickly prepared to be attacked by the beast, but to their immense surprise, they didn't appear to be the liger's targets. One by one, the liger plowed into the Oracle Knights surrounding them, sending them into the air and crashing into the walls and ground around them. The sheer force of the attack left them all unconscious.

Legretta was distracted by the surprise attack, so Tear took the opportunity to try again with her knives, only to have them be dodged and blocked yet again.

"Don't make the same mistake twice," Legretta scolded her, discarding one of the knives she had blocked.

Tear growled, disappointed in herself for not being able to get her even while she was distracted.

She didn't have much time to dwell on it before the pink-haired God-General entered the fray, the liger from before quickly going to her side. Arietta glared at Legretta while blocking Tear and the others from the older woman's aim.

"What are you going to do with Ion, Legretta?"

"Arietta, stand down!"

The Wild fiercely shook her head, "I won't! Are you really going to make Ion read the Seventh Fonstone Score?!"

"The Planet Score?" Tear asked in shock, "But that would..."

"It would kill him!" Arietta shrieked, "His body's too weak! I won't let you do that!"

"It's the most convenient bait to lure Mohs. It's necessary in order to raise the Isle of Feres-"

Arietta was having none of it, "Luke! Anise has taken Ion to the Sephiroth in the cathedral here."

"Anise?!"

"Arietta!" Legretta sounded furious, "You'd betray us?!"

"Van said he wouldn't kill Ion! You all are the traitors!"

Luke went to ask Arietta more questions, but the Colonel cut him off. "Luke, let's hurry to the secret passage!"

"Anise has been acting strange lately," Alex pointed out, "What Arietta just said is probably the truth."

Luke nodded, "All right. Arietta, thank you."

Without any hesitation, the group left the matter of Legretta to Arietta and hurried as fast as they could up the stairs to where the secret passage was located. They continued to run through the hallways leading to the secret library, all the while fearing for Ion's safety. It was that fear and the rush of adrenaline that kept Tear going.

They caught up to Anise, Mohs, and Ion in the library that lead to the Sephiroth. Tear noticed that Anise looked almost relived to see them, though she appeared to be trying to hide it from Mohs. What surprised her though, was that Ion didn't even look too concerned for his own life. He had to understand what was happening?

"What the hell is Mohs doing here?" Luke asked, glaring at the man, "Anise, what are you trying to do?!"

"I..."

Mohs was infuriated by their presence "Legretta's useless. She couldn't even keep this band of children occupied?" He scoffed before turning his squinting eyes to Anise, "Take care of this mess! Do not betray me, Oliver and Pamela are counting on you." He didn't wait for a reply before grabbing Ion and escorting him to the secret room where the glyph that led to the Sephiroth waited. Ion didn't even put up a fight.

"What does he mean by that?" Guy asked as they slowly approached Anise.

"Shut up!" she snapped, "It's been my job from the start to keep Mohs informed about Ion!" She threw a stuffed animal in Guy's direction before running after the Grand Maestro and Ion.

"Stop!" Jade shouted after her as they all made to pursue her. They entered the secret room just in time to see her vanish, and the glowing light signifying the glyph was working faded completely.

...

Luke attempted to get the glyph to respond by stomping his foot repeatedly on it, but no matter what any of them tried, it wasn't working.

Guy went to inspecting the small stuffed animal Anise had thrown at him while the others spoke about trying to find a way into the cathedral. There had to be a reason for Anise throwing it to him, a hint, maybe?

Then he found it - a small note hidden underneath the plush's collar.

"Hey," Guy interrupted what Alex was saying while pulling the note out of the collar, "Take a look at this."

"A note?" Luke asked before taking it from Guy's extended hand and reading what Anise had written on it. "_You can reach the Sephiroth thought the volcano's shaft in Mt. Zaleho. I'm sorry._"

"It sounded like Mohs had her parents hostage or something," Alex said, "It's obvious she didn't want to do this."

"That's why she's been acting so strange lately," Natalia said quietly, "If only we'd figured it out sooner..."

"Why didn't she just tell us?" Luke asked.

"Something might have happened to her parents if she did," Tear told him, "Besides, I think she was trying to tell us with her behavior."

Guy sighed, "Well, now we know why she didn't want to come to Daath."

"Should we trust Anise and head to the volcano?" Alex asked.

"We have no time for speculation," Jade replied, "We don't have any other leads. We need to hurry, or Ion won't make it. He's a replica. The moment he reads the Planet Score, the Seventh Fonons in is body will run out."

"Yeah," Luke agreed, "We have to save him."

They hurried back through the cathedral, noticing along the way that there were no signs of Legretta or Arietta. They took no time to wonder about what happened to them, continued out of the cathedral, and headed for the city's entrance where they had landed the Albiore.

Every minute was precious now, but at the same time they couldn't overexert Tear.

It was strange to think that just hours earlier they skies were clear and bright blue, but as they made their way through the city, the clouds of thick, purple miasma got heavier. Guy tried to keep an eye on Tear at all times, in case she collapsed again. She seemed to be doing fine, but she was even more pale than she had been earlier.

She seemed determined to stay on her feet. Guy chalked it up to adrenaline.

They were stopped, annoyingly, by a crowd at the entrance to the city. As they drew closer, a feeling of dread swept over them as they noticed the line of familiar people that formed a barricade to prevent people from entering or leaving the city.

Familiar people that were meant to be dead.

"What is going on?" Natalia wondered aloud as they pushed their way to the front of the crowd.

Guy found himself in front of an older man wit a blonde mohawk and eyebrows that covered his eyes. He couldn't explain the feeling in the pit of his stomach as he looked at the replica - he couldn't believe how far Mohs was willing to go to stop them.

"Iemon?" Luke asked, "That's not possible!"

"Shut up and move!" one of the civilians shouted at an unfamiliar man who stood in the line blocking the exit. Guy noticed that all of the people in that were wearing the same grey, lined, clothes.

The man, whose eyes were like those of the dead, merely forced the civilian back with a strong shove that caused him to fall on his backside. Natalia rushed to see if he was injured.

"Steady, everyone," she advised, while some of the civilians stepped back in apparent fear of the people forming the line.

"Replicas," Jade said quietly.

"What?" Luke asked.

"Might these perhaps be replicas? The military experimented with programming replicas to perform a set task. These people's eyes are the same as those of the subjects of those experiments."

Guy was sure this was what General Frings was talking about when he spoke of soldiers with dead eyes.

And speaking of Frings...was that him at the end of the line?

"Target sighted. Move to secure them now."

That voice... Even without emotion it sounded the same. Chills were sent up and down his spine as Guy slowly turned his gaze in the direction of the speaker. When he laid his eyes on her, everything else around him became irrelevant, he didn't even care that he was suddenly surrounded by people who were supposed to be dead.

"Mary..."

"Mary?" Luke asked, "Guy, what are you talking about?"

"Why...? Why is my sister here?!"

"Guy..." Alex reached out to try to comfort him, but perhaps the sight of his sister caused him to have a momentary relapse into his old phobia. When Alex made contact with him, his mind flashed right to seeing Mary shielding him during the Hod war, just like it always used to. He smacked her hand away and jumped away from her in shock before he realized what he just did. She stared at him, wide-eyed, and Guy opened his mouth to apologize before Luke brought the attention back to the group of replicas.

"What's going on?!"

"General Frings, too!" Tear said, pointing to the replica at the end of the line that Guy had spotted earlier, "But we saw him die in Grand Chokmah!'

"I see others who have already passed away," Natalia added, "The Colonel is right, they must be replicas!"

"You all know Grand Maestro Mohs' orders," Mary began, in her emotionless voice, "Kill them."

The group drew closer together as the replicas moved in on them. "Any fonic artes here would hurt civilians as well," Jade explained, "We should eliminate the replicas by the exit, and-"

"Wait!" Guy exclaimed, finally taking his eyes off of Mary, "That's where my sister...where Mary is!"

"It's a replica!" Jade snapped back.

"I know that! But still!" That didn't make it any easier for him to attack someone who looked exactly like his sister...or Frings, or Iemon.

"Even knowing that they're replicas doesn't mean we could just kill Iemon and the others," Luke agreed.

"And that's exactly what Mohs is counting on!" Jade told him.

"Leave them to me," Tear said before pulling out her staff and singing the first Fonic Hymn. The familiar Nightmare arte took its effect on each of the replicas, and they all fell to the ground, unconscious, Tear fell too.

"Tear!"

"I've never tried to put so many to sleep at once," Tear explained, though everyone knew that wasn't the only reason the arte had taken that effect on her. "I doubt it will last long, let's get out of here, fast!"

Guy hesitated slightly as they passed the unconscious form of Mary. He tried to remind himself that she wasn't his sister, she had no memories of him... But she looked exactly the same...

"Guy."

He snapped out of his thoughts and finally turned his gaze away from the replica and toward Alex, who stood waiting for him. The other were waiting at the Albiore.

"Guy, we need to hurry."

He nodded, and they ran to catch up with the others. Noelle had the engine started as soon as everyone was on board, she seemed to understand the severity of the situation before Jade could even tell Guy to explain it to her and where they were headed.

Thankfully, it only took minutes for them to locate the shaft in Mt. Zaleho that Anise was talking about, but even then, they were all restless while they waited for Noelle to land inside the volcano.

"Damn it," Luke said as Noelle figured out how to go about landing, "So much has happened, I don't even know what to think anymore!"

"Deciding what to do about the Score is the least of our worries now," Natalia said.

"I never thought I'd see a replica made of my sister," Guy said darkly, more to himself than anyone else.

"Are you all right, Guy?" Alex asked. He merely nodded in response. He couldn't think about Mary now, Ion needed them to stay focused so they could save him.

"It was probably a plan to shake us up by making replicas of people close to us."

"Mohs is such a bastard!" Luke exclaimed, slamming his fist on the arm of his seat.

"But an effective one."

"Don't say things like that, Colonel," Alex told him with a glare.

"My apologies. In any case, the first order of business is aiding Ion. If we don't help him, he will die."

Guy wondered how they would even be able to hurry through the place and get to Ion in time. The volcano was huge, and on top of that, it was too hot for them to possibly be able to keep up a steady pace without proper supplies. They would have to ration the water they did have on them, or risk dying of dehydration and heat stroke.

Sure, it was hot and humid in Daath, but in the volcano...it was hell.

They could hardly breath in normally without burning their throats and lungs, it was a wonder they could even keep going for the first couple minutes, especially Tear.

They did their best to ignore the immense heat nonetheless, but that became impossible as they found their way into a huge cavern filled with molten lava. There were occasions where they had to stop completely to avoid being hit by flaming blasts of the viscous liquid as they moved along the narrow paths of hardened lava as quickly as they could without risking falling to their deaths. Even Mieu, who normally didn't have any problem with the heat, was having a hard time.

Slowly but surely, they managed their way through the volcano, becoming more and more impatient as they went - Ion was probably already reading the Planet Score.

They came to a complete halt when Jade held out his hand to stop them as they reached a large platform of hardened lava. Guy spotted the entrance to another part of the volcano at the far end of it, in the form of what appeared to be a large hole in the ground.

"Jade! What are you doing?"

Alex shushed Luke before pointing out why Jade had stopped them. Being right beside the soldier, it was easier for her to see it.

There, beside the huge fissure in the ground that almost surely led to where Ion was being held, was a dragon.

Guy couldn't believe what he was seeing, dragons weren't even supposed to exist - they were myths! Then again, he had seen his deceased sister earlier that day, so who was he to say what wasn't real.

"Do you think Anise knew it was here?" Tear asked.

"If she did, it's quite possible sending us here was her way of getting rid of us in one fell swoop."

"How would Anise have known about it?" Guy asked, jumping to the girl's defense. He doubted Anise would want that, she was still a friend.

"Yes, don't say such things, Colonel."

"I was joking," he replied with a shrug, "Well, half joking."

There was a pregnant pause among them. "Do you think we'll be able to get through that hole before it notices us?" Alex whispered.

"We'll have to find out," Guy replied, "We don't have time to fight it, Ion needs us."

"Agreed," Tear said, "The cavern isn't far away, we might be able to make it."

All at once, they made a break for it, with Alex and Jade in the lead. The two of them had just made it into the entrance of the cavern when a blast of fire cut the others off. They were forced to back up to avoid the wave of intense heat, and by the time the smoke and fire cleared, Alex and Jade were nowhere to be seen, and the dragon stood on all fours blocking the others' path.

"Damn it, there's no way around it!"

"We'll have to trust in Alex and the Colonel to save Ion," Tear said, breathing heavily as she pulled out her staff and prepared to cast. The odds were certainly against them now, Luke and Guy's swords wouldn't be of much use against a dragon, nor would Natalia's arrows, Tear only had a few offensive Hymns, and she was already in a rougher shape than the rest of them because of the miasma. Things didn't look good.

They all jumped out of the way when the dragon unleashed another blast of fire, followed by a roar that was loud enough for some of the volcanic stalactites on the ceiling to crumble and fall into the lava around the floor.

"We'll have to wait for an opening to attack," Luke said while the dragon continued its uproar.

As he dodged another blast of fire from the dragon's mouth, all Guy could do was hope that Alex and Jade could make it to Ion in time.

* * *

_**A/N: Contest!**_

_**I am hosting another contest for this story! I have a journal with the details about the rules and prizes on my dA page, there's a link to it on my profile here if you're interested! You can enter anything you want though: drawings, writing, etc, so long as there's no mature content, and at least one of my OCs in this story is involved.**_

_**The prizes as stands are more for deviantartists, since prizes that way are easier considering there's not a lot for me to do prize-wise on FF, but if you don't have a deviantart page and are interested in participating, send me a PM and I'll adjust the prizes a bit for you if you win. :3 **_

_**First prize (as stands): 3-month dA premium, 700 points, 3 drawings by me (of whatever/whoever you want, with limits explained in my dA journal). The other prizes and such are listed there on the journal as well.**_

_**There's no end date as of yet, though it will probably be around early-mid June. You can start entering whenever you want! :D I'll make an update in an A/N whenever I decide on that end date but I'll decide at least a month before that date comes around. I'll try to have it decided by my next update.**_

_**Anyway, this was a shorter chapter, but it mostly leads into the next one. I am SUPER excited to write the next chapter, so it might not take too long.**_

_**Serious, SERIOUS changes to the plotline beginning next chapter.**_

_**Please review! They'll help keep me motivated! **_


	54. Death

_**A/N: **__**Credit to RubyMoonz for a small scene in this chapter. We were talking a while ago and I told her about something that was coming up in this chapter, and she told me that she actually had written a small oneshot on what she thought might have happened if something like that had happened and showed me. I really liked what she had written and didn't think I could do much better myself, so I asked her if I could use it and she gave me permission to. :3**_

_**And let me tell you, even having that one part written ahead of time really made my life easier with this chapter. xD**_

_**Shortest chapter since like, chapter 14, but I had to leave it where I left it. :P**_

_**I've decided the deadline for the contest will be July 15th. Let me know if you're interested in participating, so far there have been two entries.**_

* * *

_Chapter 54: Death_

It was too late.

Anise desperately wished she could have thought of something to save Ion without risking her parent's lives, but she failed. She and Mohs were already escorting him to his death.

Poor Ion...he didn't deserve this. It wasn't fair for him at all.

Her only hope for him to be saved was if the others miraculously managed to make to them in time to stop Ion from reading the Planet Score.

The only thing she could do to help was write a note telling the others how to get to the Sephiroth without the glyph, and attach it a small stuffed animal she had taken form her family's quarters right after she told Ion about Tear collapsing at the entrance of the city.

She was happy, though she tried to hide it from Mohs, when the others caught up to them in the library. She was glad to have the chance to give them the note in person. If they didn't catch up in time, she would have just left the stuffed animal by the no-longer-working glyph, but she felt more comfort in knowing that the others were right behind them.

It was a long shot, but they could actually still somehow make it in time, if she were to find a way to stall Mohs from making Ion read...

The only problem was the fact that Mohs had her parents heavily guarded by knights ready to possibly kill them if she tried anything.

As they were preparing for Ion to start reading the Planet Score, Anise went through her head one last time.

There were two guards with her parents, but they were behind bars so the knights wouldn't be able to get to them right away if Anise acted.

Anise also had a knight standing next to her, Mohs probably thought she would try something, and Ion had two plus Mohs by his side. It would be near impossible for just Anise to stop what was about to happen without getting killed in the process, but she could at least stall and ensure that her parents weren't harmed before the others got there.

How long would it take them to get through the volcano? They were probably just in the Albiore heading to Zaleho's shaft as she thought, but there wasn't any time to wonder about where they were.

In one quick motion, Anise grabbed Tokunaga off her back and enhanced his size, carefully aiming a punch at the Knight standing by her. By the time he had made to attack her, Tokunaga's fist had already dealt a blow so heavy that it caused the Knight to soar across the platform into one of the two Knights guarding her parents. The other knight abandoned his post in front of their cage to run to the other two knights' aid while some of the knights surrounding Mohs and Ion pulled out their weapons and prepared to attack Anise.

Ion looked both shocked and scared at what was happening, while Mohs made orders to kill Anise and her parents, but she wouldn't allow her parents to die because of her. The others had to get there soon.

All she had to do was stall for time.

Luke and the others had better not let her down.

...

"We lost the others!"

"There's nothing we can do but keep moving," Jade told Alex, "The others will be fine, it's Ion who needs us now."

"How can you be sure? That dragon was huge, Colonel!"

"We don't have time to be worrying about that right now!"

She watched them from the shadows. The butterflies in her stomach went haywire the second she saw them appear, and she had difficulty resisting the urge to vomit. She didn't want to do this, and she hated Mohs for being right in guessing Anise would let them know about the secret way into the passage ring.

Alex and Jade continued to argue about whether or not they should go back and help, and Isabell wished they would so she wouldn't have to go through with her orders. While Alex made a fair point in saying the others would stand a much better chance with some of Jade's water-based Fonic Artes, Jade argued that Ion could be reading the planet Score as they spoke, and Tear's Fonic Hymns would be effective as well.

In the end, Jade won, and Isabell silently cursed the fact that he had.

She took a deep, staggering breath as she saw her sister start to reluctantly follow the Malkuth Colonel, and stepped out of the shadows herself, "I can't let you go any further."

They both stopped in their tracks.

"Bell?" Alex looked shocked, to say the least, to see Isabell inside the volcano. The shock on her face turned to something else when Isabell couldn't quite identify (was that disappointment, or anger?) when the few soldiers accompanying her followed her out of their hiding place. "What is this?"

Isabell had to look away from Alex, and she heard Jade sigh, as if he had been expecting something like this.

"I was hoping Mohs was wrong when he thought you might come this way."

"You _rejoined_ the God-Generals?!" Alex demanded, "Why would you do that? Are you _insane_?!"

"We don't have time for this, Ion could be reading the Score as we speak," Jade said, leveling his red eyes on Isabell, "I would rather avoid a battle here. Let us through."

Isabell shook her head, "I already told you, I can't do that."

"Why are you doing this?" Alex demanded again, "Does Mohs have something on you?"

Isabell chose to avoid the question. Her hazel eyes clashed against emerald. Isabell didn't plan for this to happen, she didn't _want_ this to happen, and if there was any other way, she would have done it.

This was her little sister, after all. She should never have to raise her sword against her own flesh and blood.

And there was still a chance she could avoid having to.

"This is the only way," Isabell forced herself to say, "The Score must be destroyed."

"You're going to use the Score to get rid of the Score?! That makes _no _sense!"

"So the God-Generals are just stringing Mohs along after all," Jade said, "I assume this will somehow lead to Van's return?"

"And the end of the Score," Isabell nodded, "Years ago, Van saved me from a miserable life in Chesedonia, a life I was forced into because the Score had cost me my family and homeland. In return for his kindness, I agreed to join his ranks in hopes of abolishing the Score. I forgot how grateful I was to him back then, but I won't forget my debt this time."

Isabell had to show Alex that this was the only way; the right way. Everything she had been through, everything she had suffered was because of the Score. She had lost her home, her friends, her family...everything. Van offered her a chance to rid the world of the Score and she took it, even if she didn't actually agree with it.

"Killing Ion isn't going to help anyone but that douche-bag, Mohs!" Alex shouted, and Isabell took a second to regret calling Cameron by that insult so often in Grand Chokmah when they were alone. Foul language wasn't something Isabell wanted Alex to learn from her.

"We want the same things," Isabell tried, "We all want a world that isn't controlled by the Score, you can still join us!"

"You all seem to want Ion to die," Alex retorted, "That's not something we want at all."

"And I personally would prefer to not have my Fomicry research exploited in the manner Van is suggesting," Jade added.

Isabell hung her head, and reluctantly reached for the hilt of her sword. She couldn't bear to see the look on Alex's face as she did so.

Her hand gripped the sword, a rueful smile on her face. Clearly joining forces was not an option. Repeating over and over in her head that this was the only way to ensure that Alex remained alive, she forced herself to look up at them.

Isabell hurt so much, seeing the look on Alex's face. It was her little sister, the only family she had left.

This wasn't the choice she wanted, yet there was no other option. She had tried, time and time again, to avoid a scenario like this. Alex had to understand that. Isabell had done everything she could to help her sister, sometimes with Van knowing, sometimes without.

Because some parts of his plan she didn't agree with, and he knew that, but Isabell was free to make her own decisions about them. It was the only way Van knew Isabell would remain by his side, but that didn't work as well as he had hoped. She had turned against him in the Absorption Gate. She would walk her own path, always.

But sometimes, she fell, tempted by things she knew in her heart could not happen. Sometimes, she wanted to just end it all.

Sometimes, nothing mattered.

For a long time after Hod, Isabell was angry. She was also depressed and lonely. It felt like she had no one else to depend on, so she only relied on herself. She was bitter and she hated everything.

In some ways, not a lot about her had really changed since Chesedonia. It felt like she could trust no one. Isabell didn't want to trust anyone, in case she lost them somehow. She tried not to make that mistake again after Morgan.

Fear and bitterness. It's what kept her on the path that only she walked.

She felt emotionless when she saw Alex draw her own dual blades, the ones Isabell got for her, and wondered if she had been keeping up with her training with all that was going on.

She had her answer when their blades clashed, locked in combat that she yearned wasn't happening.

She had improved a little, but it was clear to her that she wasn't using her true strength. Isabell wasn't either, she had no intentions of killing Alex. The whole reason she agreed to cooperate with Mohs was so she could keep her alive, even if she felt awful for allowing the deaths of her friends, who she knew Alex had started to think of as family.

She didn't know about the others taking care of the dragon Alex had mentioned, but Isabell doubted Jade would die at the hands of a few mediocre Oracle Knights.

Isabell had made the order before hand not to go after Alex, so the four of them all made to take care of Jade while Isabell would battle with Alex on her own. It was the best way to ensure Alex's survival. She had imagined the whole group would be there, and that they would have taken care of the knights easily. She had planned to surrender right after that happened, but she doubted this would be a quick battle, even for Jade.

Isabell reflected Alex's attacks fairly easily, though it was a bit more difficult than when they had practiced outside Grand Chokmah. The opportunities for Isabell to attack Alex came often, and she passed each of them up. She dodged all the attacks Alex aimed at her, and in order to keep up appearances with the knights that had accompanied her, she aimed the occasional attack at Alex, making sure that she was able to parry or dodge herself.

The two of them had their blades locked together, each putting their weights behind them, when Jade finally managed an arte against the knights he was up against.

"_Flare Tornado!_"

Jade's sudden cry surprised Isabell. She hadn't expected anyone to use a Fifth Fonic Arte inside Mt. Zaleho, of all places. She froze in place as the fire swirled around Mohs' knights, and she could just barely hear their cries of agony over the roar of the flames. She suspected their metal armor was melting into their skin with the intense heat.

During the time Isabell had been frozen in place, Alex took the opportunity to dash at her. Isabell attempted to move out of the way a second to late, and as Alex's swords clashed once again with hers, Isabell stumbled over a cluster of rocks behind her. As she fell backwards, her sword slid off of Alex's and the younger girl, who had clearly been putting most of her weight behind her blades, fell forward as Isabell instinctively reached out the hand holding her sword in an attempt at regaining her balance.

It didn't work, and Isabell blacked out as her head painfully connected with the hard ground, and she felt Alex's full weight fall on top of her.

_Everything was white, save for the blood quickly collecting around the bodies of her fallen comrade, as well as the yeti her group had just barely slain. All the other soldiers were already leaving, in case there were more monsters lying in wait. Isabell couldn't leave him there._

_It was her first mission as a commander, and she'd failed it. She didn't know why anyone would ask a new commander to tackle Mt. Roneal, but that was the mission she had been given, and she knew better than to argue with the higher-ups. _

_But now she wished she had argued._

_"Morgan, I'm so sorry."_

_He somehow managed a smile, despite his serious injuries, "It's not your fault, Isabell."_

_Isabell could hear a rumbling off in the distance, she suspected it was either more yetis, or a sign of an impending avalanche._

_"You have to leave..."_

_She shook her head, "I can't leave without you, you can survive this."_

_"You can't carry me and outrun those monsters," he argued, "I need you to do something for me...as a last request."_

_Tears began to cloud her vision as she slowly nodded at him._

_"In my left pocket...a ring...please, take it to Eliza and tell her what happened... Tell her I love her."_

Isabell awoke at the sound of coughing, and felt blood splatter across her face. Her entire midsection felt damp, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that it was covered in blood.

Alex's blood.

Her eyes widened in horror as she saw her sister struggling to get the blade of Isabell's own sword out of her midsection. Isabell both couldn't, and didn't want to move, in case she hurt her more.

"No..."

When Alex slumped over her once again, to weak to continue trying to get the sword out of her body, Isabell, as gently as she could, moved to roll them both over until she was cradling the younger girl in her arms without irritating the sword. She let go of the hilt and left the blade where it was, Alex would bleed out if she removed it.

"No no _no_, this isn't happening!"

The tears fell thick and fast, and she didn't try to stop them like she normally would.

"Bell..." Isabell could already see Alex's bright eyes growing more and more dull by the second.

"It wasn't supposed to go like this! Please, hang on! You can't leave me all alone!"

Isabell didn't care if she sounded like a begging child. Alex couldn't leave her like their parents did, like that boy her took her to Chesedonia did, like Morgan did.

She couldn't leave her alone. There would be no reason for her live anymore.

"Sorry...I yelled at you," Alex managed before her eyelids started to droop.

Isabell didn't even know how to respond. It didn't look good. Alex had already lost a lot of blood; too much for her to really stand a chance of living. But Isabell couldn't think like that, Alex couldn't die.

Isabell couldn't be the one to kill her.

She vaguely heard the sound of footsteps behind her and imagined Jade had dealt with the rest of the Oracle Knights. She avoided his gaze and turned to look at the remains of the knights, whose armor had smoke coming off of them, as he knelt down on the other side of Alex. She imagined that earlier Flare Tornado had burned them all to a crisp.

Jade didn't seem to be in a hurry to get to Ion anymore, and Isabell wondered how far along they were in the reading, mostly to get her mind off of what was happening in front of her.

"We should remove the sword," he said simply before moving one hand to the hilt of Isabell's sword.

"She'll bleed out," Isabell choked out.

He took a moment to respond, "She's bled heavily already, it won't make a difference. I imagined it was difficult for you to see you own sword impaling your sister. It would be easier for us to stop the bleeding with something else."

Isabell's gaze started to move in the direction of the passageway that led to the other members of Alex's group, where they were probably still dealing with the dragon. She didn't want to watch as Jade removed the sword, and flinched at the squelching sound and the quiet and weak protests on Alex's part as it was being removed.

Tear and Natalia were through there, and they were the only ones who could heal Alex. She thought for a moment if she should go and help them finish off the dragon, they had been fighting for a while, so the battle should have been close to finished. She decided there was no point, by then it would be too late, and she couldn't bring herself to leave Alex.

Slowly, Isabell turned her gaze back to Jade, who had his hands over the wounds Isabell had accidentally inflicted, just in time to see him remove his hands from them. She couldn't take her eyes off of the dark blood covering his gloves as they moved to Alex's wrist to check her pulse and lowered his head to her chest and mouth to check if she was still breathing.

She felt her entire world crashing down around her as he spoke. She tried so desperately to believe that if she pretended she hadn't heard the words, they wouldn't be true. She asked him to repeat what he said, hoping his words would be different this time.

Everything in her shattered when he spoke again, this time more clearly.

"Her breathing has stopped."

* * *

_**A/N: Okay, be honest. Who thought Ion was going to die when you saw the chapter title?**_

_**Short chapter, I know. But I'd really love reviews on it. **_


	55. Ion?

_**A/N: I've decided to make me updating on my birthday like I have the past couple years as a kind of tradition. xD I'm not sure how I feel about being 20. :P**_

_**Long A/N at the end, but it is fairly important.**_

_**I feel like I'm forgetting something...**_

_**Oh yeah, shout out to NinjaLadyHinata and Yuna-TheAnimeLuver. They FREAKING COSPLAYED AS ALEX AND ISABELL. I didn't even know how to respond to it since they showed me over skype, but seriously, they're amazing. They plan on taking pictures and uploading them on dA soon.**_

* * *

_Chapter 55: Ion...?_

It was difficult enough for him to say the first time, yet Isabell still asked Jade to repeat the words. He spoke more clearly this time, not letting his emotions and thoughts about what had just occurred betray him.

"Her breathing has stopped."

She stared at him in shock for what felt like an eternity before completely breaking down, pulling at her hair and curling in on herself in hysterical tears. Jade didn't know what to do or say in the situation, it wasn't like he could just stand up and leave them while he went to look for Ion. He would have a hard time on his own, anyway. He just sat in complete silence, and watched the scene as it happened around him.

He felt like he had to say something when Isabell started talking. Most of it was muffled gibberish he couldn't understand, but he caught quite a few apologies wasted on Alex's unhearing ears.

"I'm so sorry," Isabell uncurled herself, tears streaming down her cheeks, "This is my fault."

He couldn't exactly argue with that.

"I never should have rejoined the God-Generals, I should have known it would end up like this... I should have helped you instead."

Jade wasn't entirely sure is she was talking to him or Alex, but he felt he should say something.

"Isabell..."

"Kill me, please."

Jade sighed, he would be lying if he said he didn't see this coming, "I'm not going to do that, Isabell."

"I'm your enemy anyway!" she snapped, "What kind of soldier wouldn't want to kill their enemy?"

"This is different," Jade explained, not meeting her eyes, "I would hardly feel accomplished taking the life of I've become acquainted with."

"That's just an excuse. Tell me the real reason!"

He paused, "She would never forgive me for killing you over an unfortunate accident."

He didn't want another woman he knew haunting his dreams every night, Professor Nebilim was enough.

"What does that matter?! She's dead, you just said she stopped breathing!"

"You really think that's a reason to die?"

"I don't have any reason to _live_ anymore, Jade! My only reason for continuing to suffer through this curse I call my life just died, what else am I supposed to do now?!"

Jade had no response for her.

"I'm sick of causing the deaths of the people I love! It's happened too many times. It would be better for me to just die here before I go and find someone else to care about, seeing as loving someone seems to curse them-"

"Most people call suicide the coward's way out-"

"You have _no_ idea what I've been through! Hell, your fucking experiments with hyperresonance caused the destruction of my homeland! You have _no right_ to call me a coward when you played a direct part in making my life the hell it is today. And for what? Some replica data so you could bring someone back from the dead? Do you have any idea how many people died so you could reach that impossible goal! You cut so many lives short by extracting all that data!"

How Isabell knew about Professor Nebilim, Jade didn't know, but that wasn't what was important.

"I saw the replicas of the people of Hod," Isabell continued, "I know you were just trying to gather data to see if you could make a replica with memories of the original. She must have been one hell of a woman for just her life to outweigh the hundreds of people you've extracted data from over the years!"

"I know what I've done," Jade replied calmly, "That's why I forbade it."

"But that's not enough, is it? Not with people like Mohs and Dist still on the planet."

Jade sighed, "I don't see what my past mistakes have to do with what's happened here."

"You have no right to call me a coward for not wanting to live this hell I have for a life, when you didn't even have the balls to step up and do anything about the 'mistakes you regret making'. You had to wait until a bunch of kids half your age decided to do something about it for you! Simply 'forbidding' something isn't going to do anything, you of all people should know that only makes people want to try it more!"

Silence followed her words for a while, Jade didn't know how to respond. It was true she should hate him for his research and how it had affected her, but just as he didn't know her story, she didn't know his. He wasn't one to make excuses, however, and she was distraught. Now wasn't the time to argue about anything, it did nothing to save Ion, or make their current situation any better.

"I'm tired," Isabell said quietly, and Jade noticed her gazing at her sword laying on the ground feet away from her, now covered in Alex's blood, "I'm so tired of this life."

He hardly realized just what was happening as it was happening, but within seconds Jade was grabbing the sword from her grasp and tossing it to the side before she could do anything incredibly stupid.

They watched as the sword clattered noisily to the ground several feet away, and Isabell opened her mouth to speak when the others finally entered to cavernous room.

"Why are you still here?!" Luke asked as they all ran into the room, all covered in burns and ash, but otherwise looking all right, "What about Ion?!"

Tear and Natalia, who had been trained to keep an eye out for signs of injury, were faster to notice Alex. They picked up their paces immediately before coming to a stop at her body.

"What happened?" Tear asked at once as Natalia checked for a pulse, a look of despair crossing her face when she couldn't find one. The lack of a pulse did nothing to stop her as she started casting a healing arte.

Jade couldn't quite bring himself to answer the question as the princess kept the arte going for a couple minutes before finally giving up. It did a little to close the wound, but it did nothing to help Alex. When it became apparent that nothing could be done, Natalia covered her face with her hands and broke down in silent tears with Tear .

Jade looked up at Guy, who had remained surprisingly quiet since they arrived. His normally bright eyes looked dull and lifeless as he slowly moved toward Alex's body and knelt next to her, lifting her from the ground and holding her close to his chest.

For once, Jade had nothing to say. He couldn't even bring himself to remind everyone of Ion, who may already be dead as well.

"What the hell happened?!" Luke repeated Tear's question as Mieu bounced over to try and comfort Natalia.

"I killed her," Isabell said, emotionless. All that remained of her tears were the trails left on her face. The others only just seemed to notice she was there, they all wore identical looks of shock and confusion at her words.

"It was an accident," Jade said, more for Isabell's benefit, "You didn't intend it to happen-"

"It makes no difference!" Isabell snapped, tears spilling down her face once more, "Either way, she's dead, and it was my sword that killed her!"

"How long has it been since her breathing stopped?" Tear asked suddenly.

"Why does that matter?" Isabell replied, "Why should it matter when she died?"

"Because I may know an arte capable of resuscitating her."

There was a moment of shocked silence as everyone stared at Tear. Natalia had stopped her crying, and even Jade was surprised.

"Seriously?" Luke asked, "That's possible?"

Tear nodded, and turned to Jade for an answer to her earlier question.

"She stopped breathing close to ten minutes ago," he replied.

Tear nodded again before turning back to Alex and clasping one of her hands in hers so it looked like she was praying.

"Hold on," Guy said, his voice hoarse, "Is this safe for you?"

"Yes," Natalia agreed, wiping the tears from her face, "You're still weak from the miasma, perhaps I could do it?"

"That's not possible, it's one of Yulia's Hymns. I've only ever read in a book Van gave me in Daath how it can be used, and the lyrics and meaning I've understood only since Frings' death, but it's worth a try."

"But is it safe?" Luke pressed, noticing she had avoided Guy's question completely.

She avoided it once again as she began to sing. As she sang, a bright light enveloped Alex, making it difficult for the others to look directly at her. When the light began to fade along with Tear's voice, Jade saw that the majority of the damage that had been dealt to her had healed, and he felt something akin to relief when he saw Alex's chest begin to rise and fall once more, though slowly at first. Immediately, Natalia went to using a healing arte to finally close the wound fully and regenerate some blood as Isabell closed the distance between her and everyone. Once the wound was fully closed, Guy pulled her into his chest and held her there. Isabell started to cry again, only this time it was quietly, and with relief rather than anguish.

Tear tried to stand up, only to faint for the third time since that morning. Luke was quick to go to her side and pick her up, asking if she was all right.

"It was clearly a powerful arte," Jade explained, "I doubt even a healthy person would be able to use it and not feel faint afterwards."

Tear nodded before looking over to Guy and Alex, "Is she all right?"

"She won't wake up," Isabell said, trying to stir Alex into consciousness.

"I closed the wound and regenerated as much blood as I could," Natalia said, "But she hasn't regained consciousness."

"Is that normal?" Luke asked.

"I've never used the arte before," Tear told him, "I don't know how long it could take for her to wake up."

"She lost a lot of blood beforehand," Jade told them, "She's breathing, I'm sure she'll be fine. We should hurry to Ion now, before it's too late."

It was as if everyone just remembered why they had entered the volcano in the first place, and they all stood, Isabell helping Alex onto Guy's back.

"I know I don't have any right in asking, since I caused this, but can I come with you?" Isabell asked, her red, puffy eyes still on her sister, "I need to make sure she's all right."

Everyone looked hesitant at first about the question, but decided they didn't have time to think about it and let her join them. Jade fully intended to keep an eye on Isabell, nonetheless. He felt uncomfortable leaving someone clearly both mentally and emotionally unstable on their own.

He had a feeling, after just hearing her story, as rushed and incoherent as it was, he knew the true reason she had rejoined Mohs.

The attempt at suicide wasn't decided after Alex's death, it only had the complete opposite outcome she had expected. Though why she would have her sister be a part of it at all was beyond Jade. Perhaps it was more unconscious before watching her sister die pushed her over the edge?

That made the most sense.

...

"If any harm comes to the Tatlins, I will not read the Planet Score," Ion firmly told Mohs.

Mohs scowled at him before looking over to Anise, who was being pinned down by two Oracle Knights. Tokunaga lay ripped and with some of his stuffing falling out a couple mere feet away.

"Fine. It's just as well she be forced to watch the Fon Master read."

"Fon Master, please," Pamela pleaded from where she and Oliver were being held, "We live only to serve the you and the Order. We cannot allow you to die on our behalf!"

"You've already saved me once, Pamela," Ion replied, smiling his kindest smile, "And Anise has protected me many times before this. It's time I return the favor."

"Ion, you idiot..." Anise muttered, tears threatening to spill, "He's only going to wait until you're dead to kill us! You don't have to read, you can live! Mohs won't kill you, you're too valuable-"

"Silence!" Mohs shouted, and one of the soldiers covered Anise's mouth with his gloved hand. She tried not to gag at the smell of steel, leather, and even blood she was now being forced to endure, and more tears welled up in her eyes for a whole different reason.

Ion smiled at her, "Anise, thank you for everything. But I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing you all died to save me."

Tears were now streaming down her face, it was clear now that the others weren't going to make it in time. That idiot. He could save himself, he could live, and he chose not to. He could at least stall some more until the others made it, and then no one would have to die, but no.

But when it came down to it, this was all her fault, she had put him in this position.

She closed her tear-filled eyes and turned her head away as Ion positioned his hands over the massive Planet Score, and they began to glow. She couldn't watch.

"Wait! Ion, don't read!"

Relief flooded through Anise when she heard Luke's voice coming from the other end of the cavern. He sounded out of breath, unsurprisingly to Anise, as they all must have run the whole way there.

When she opened her eyes to look at the group, even though her vision was slightly blurred from tears, she saw that they were all covered from head to toe in ash and burns, their clothes were all ripped, and some of them had blood stains. She also noticed that Alex appeared to be unconscious, as Guy was carrying her, and Isabell was suddenly with them. Anise came to the conclusion that Isabell was not originally with the others, as she was wearing her God-General uniform, and she had no burns or anything of the like.

Mohs must have had some sort of blackmail on Isabell to make her hold them back, which meant that he expected Anise to tell the others how to get to them. That could be very bad news for Anise and her parents.

But the biggest thing going through her head when she saw them: whatever had happened to her friends inside the volcano, that was her fault too.

Mohs was furious, to say the least, as Luke quickly cut through one of the knights in his way to get to Ion as the colonel and Natalia dealt with the rest of them while Tear and Guy distanced themselves and Alex from the battle.

Mohs screamed at Isabell for betraying them yet again as the Kimlascan Princess shot a barrage of arrows at the knights holding Anise down, catching them off guard and allowing the young girl to free herself from them with Tokunaga. She wasted no time in rushing to help her parents, the colonel right behind her.

Luke had managed to pull Ion away from the Planet Score, and practically had to drag him back with Tear and the others. For whatever reason, he looked reluctant to go.

It was much easier to take care of the knights now that the others were with her, and soon all that was left to take care of was Mohs, except he appeared to have made a run for it in all of the commotion, and they were left to look for him in case he was cowering behind a boulder.

"You fools!" they all shot their heads in the direction of his voice, and found him hiding behind a line of people whose eyes resembled the dead.

"More replicas," Jade said slowly.

"You'll doom us all!" Mohs continued to shout, "Deviating from the Score can only bring disaster! What's one life if it mean's that person's death will bring prosperity to all?! You would really risk the lives of millions for one boy?!"

"Shut up!" Luke shouted back, "We've already deviated from the Score, no one has to die!"

Luke put himself into a fighting stance, and all the replicas guarding Mohs did the same.

"Please stop," Oliver told him, "Those people won't harm you as long as you let Mohs leave unharmed."

Luke looked at war with himself as he contemplated the words, "Dammit..."

"It's too late, Luke," Guy said, and when Anise looked back in the direction of the replica, Anise saw that Mohs was gone, and the replicas were beginning to retreat as well, "He's gone anyway."

"That's still no reason to feel safe," Natalia said, "I highly doubt Mohs plans to let the Fon Master live, we have to remain vigilant."

"She's right," Jade sighed, "We can't stay in Daath, at the very least. Someone will have to be with Ion at all times."

"I'm sorry for troubling everyone," Ion said quietly, his eyes on Tear. Anise noticed he looked somehow disappointed.

"And we still have Alex and Tear to worry about, we need to get them a doctor."

"Should we head to Belkend, then?" Luke asked.

"Wait," Anise said quietly, wondering what everyone must have thought about her, "What about Mama and Papa? They'll be in danger too if they stay here."

"She's right," Ion agreed.

Luke thought for a moment, "Well we can't take them with us... Jade?"

"I'll send a letter to Emperor Peony explaining the situation when we get to Belkend, I'm sure a safe house for the Tatlins can be arranged."

"How long will we be in hiding?" Pamela asked.

Jade adjusted his glasses, "It's hard to say. It would hopefully be a few months at the most, if everything goes according to plan, that is."

"We have a plan?" Anise heard Luke whisper to Tear, who gave him a stern look and a stiff nod.

"Mama, Papa, I'm sorry you have to do this. This is all my fault."

"Don't be silly, Dear," Pamela told her, pulling her into a hug, "We're very proud of how you protected the Fon Master."

"Yes," Oliver agreed, "In a way, this is mostly our fault. We never truly wanted to let Mohs enroll you into the Guardian program when he noticed your potential years ago, but we had that debt. This has all been very unfair to you."

Jade headed for the post office to send the letter to Emperor Peony while everyone else headed for the outskirts of the city to board the Albiore. It wasn't safe to stay in the city for longer than they had to. Anise hung behind the group the whole time, trying to hide the tears that were once again threatening to spill.

While they waited for Jade in one of the foresty areas, Anise distanced herself a bit from the rest of the group. Her parents were also a little farther away from the main group, who sat in the middle of a small clearing quietly discussing the event of the day while Natalia tried a healing arte to see if they could rouse Alex.

Slowly, Anise saw Ion detach himself from the main group and head toward Anise, sitting down beside her against the tree trunk she was leaning back on.

"Anise, you're not at fault for what happened, Mohs had your parents. Please don't do this to yourself."

Anise curled in on herself, starting to cry again, "Why did you still try to read the Score? You know Mohs would have just killed us right after you died."

"I knew Luke and the others would make it there in time to stop that from happening."

"But why would you risk your life like that?!"

"You're my most cherished guardian and friend, Anise," Ion replied with a smile, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You always protect me, I wanted to do the same for you for once."

Ion's kind words only made her cry even more, and without even fully realizing what she was doing, she lunged at him and wrapped her arms tightly around his midsection.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Ion! I really thought you were going to die..."

Ion placed a hand on her head, "I'm happy I can spend more time with my friends. I only wish I could do something for Tear and Alex, now."

"There you are!"

When Anise turned in the direction of the voice, she was met with a sharp pain across her face as Arietta slapped her.

"How dare you hug him like that! You nearly killed him!" she screeched hysterically.

Her hair was in tangles, and there were bruises and dirt stains all over her clothes, making her look much more suited for the title 'the Wild'. She was breathing heavily, like she had run all the way to find them.

"I sent my friends to look for you, and they told me you were here," Arietta explained, answering the unasked question of how she found them. At the mention of her friends, three ligers came out from the trees and surrounded the group. "Give me Ion! I won't let him go with you, you'll kill him!"

"Arietta, let us go!" Anise replied, "We need to get Ion to safety, you wan't that too, right?"

"He won't be safe as long as he's with you!" Arietta growled back, "You're the one who nearly killed him in the first place!"

"Arietta," Ion tried, holding his hand out in attempts to calm her down, "Anise didn't have a choice-"

"Ion, she tried to kill you," Arietta turned on him, her eyes pleading with him to take her side for once, "I don't care what her excuses are, her job is to protect you and she failed! I won't let her take you from me this time!"

Ion sighed, "Arietta... I'm not who you think I am."

Arietta cocked her head to the side, "What are you talking about? Ion, you can't make excuses for her!"

"Ion, please don't," Anise tried. Ion shook his head at her before turning back to the pink-haired God-General.

"Arietta, I'm not-"

"We don't have time for this," Jade cut in, and Ion snapped his head in the colonel's direction as he appeared through the trees as well. All the shouting had probably told them where they were. "We won't be giving the Fon Master to you. It appears that he wouldn't willingly go with you at any rate-"

"That's because Anise made him change!"

"Oh, shut up, Gloomietta!"

"Anise," Pamela started, "That's not very ni-"

"I am _not _gloomy!"

Jade cleared his throat as Oliver and Pamela made to pull Anise away and reprimand her for being rude to Arietta.

"As I was saying, Ion will be coming with us whether you like it or not. However, if this will speed things along, We will be dropping Anise off with her parents when we find a safe place for them."

Anise stared up at him in shock at the colonel's words as Arietta glared at him, "How do I know I can trust you, Necromancer?"

"You don't," he replied with a shrug, "But you should keep in mind that if Ion remained with us, he would be protected by a large group of people with the desire to keep him away from Mohs, whereas the God-Generals are likely to know where you are all the time, and they would most likely be willing to lie to you in order to hand Ion over to Mohs once again."

Arietta thought for a moment, all the while glaring at Jade while hugging her strange doll to her chest, "You promise to keep Ion safe?"

"We promise," Luke replied for everyone, "Ion's our friend, we won't let him die."

Arietta nodded, albeit reluctantly, before calling off her liger friends. "If you let any harm come to him," she said, staring directly at Anise. She had the feeling Arietta didn't believe Jade when he said they's be leaving Anise with her parents, "I'll kill you all. And I'll get revenge for my mommy, then, too."

She whistled and held her hand up in the air while holding her doll tightly to her chest with the other. After a huge gust of wind, she was gone, and they saw all her ligers bounding on top of rooftops and other structures to follow the Arietta on her flying monster.

"Jade, why didn't you let me tell her I was a replica?" Ion asked as soon as Arietta was out of earshot.

"Arietta loved the original Fon Master very much," Isabell replied quietly, "That news would kill her. Almost literally."

"Precisely," Jade agreed, "It's clear how much she cared for him with how often she's attempted to take you from us. She even risked her position in order to keep you alive, it's better off she die not knowing the truth."

"But, Jade," Luke started, "A long time ago we had to talk you into letting her live. It doesn't seem like you to just let her walk away like that."

"Don't say that, Luke!" Natalia said, "Arietta did just help us, after all."

Sometimes it seemed to Anise that the colonel was going soft. She remembered how scared of him she was in the beginning, when it was just him, Ion, and herself on the Tartarus, before they even met Luke and Tear.

"I couldn't very well kill a respected soldier in Daath so close to the city, now could I? Her monsters would likely start an uproar. We'd never get out of here if she were to die right here."

Or maybe not...

"To clarify, I do still regret allowing you kids to talk me into letting her live in the Fubras river. On that note, if she interferes with us again, don't expect me to show that courtesy once more."

Everyone nodded as they continued on their way. As Anise looked over at Isabell and Guy with Alex again, still wondering what had actually happened to her, she decided she wanted to change the subject to something less depressing than death.

"Colonel, are you really going to leave me with Mama and Papa?"

"Hm?" Jade turned his head toward her, "Oh, that. I was simply saying what Arietta wanted to hear, I won't force you to stay with your parents if you don't want to."

Anise thought about it. It would be nice to make sure her parents were okay, but she could trust the colonel to find them a safe place to hide. She needed to make sure Ion was out of Mohs' grasp. "I want to stay with you all, if that's okay."

"That's fine with us," Luke replied, "Right everyone."

"Yes," Tear and Natalia agreed as Ion nodded. Guy and Isabell hardly seemed to notice the others were still even there. How quiet they were being was starting to scare Anise a little bit, no one was even that quiet when Alex had that icicle incident on Mt. Roneal.

"I'm glad you're all safe!" Noelle said as she lowered the steps to get into the Albiore, "Whoa, what's with all the people?"

"We need to get Anise's parents to safety," Tear explained, "Are there enough seats?"

"Okay, no problem," Noelle did a quick head count, "There should be enough room. What happened to Alex?"

Anise had been wondering the same thing, but had been waiting for a better time to ask.

"We'll explain everything while traveling," Jade said, "We should leave immediately."

Noelle nodded, "Where to?"

"Belkend. I said in my letter for them to send a reply there."

"Got it. Everyone on board!"

* * *

"So that's what happened."

"I can't believe she was dead..." Anise said quietly, staring at the door to the bunk cabin Alex was resting in, Isabell and Guy were still with her, and Pamela and Oliver were resting for the night as well.

Ion nodded, "Yes, thank goodness Tear was there."

"No kidding," Luke agreed, an almost emotionless look on his face. Anise sighed, she felt guilty about what everyone had just gone through.

"Um...guys?" Anise said slowly, and they all turned to face her. She hesitated before continuing, "I'm so sorry about what happened. I didn't want to betray anybody, and you all got hurt because of it-"

"That's enough," Jade cut in, "Everyone's alive, there's no sense in blaming yourself for something you couldn't help."

"Yeah," Luke added, placing a hand on her shoulder and trying to smile at her, "You couldn't have done anything differently, Mohs had your parents."

Anise nodded before wiping fresh tears from her eyes. These people...why were they all so damn trusting?! Not that she was really complaining at that moment, though she did feel she deserved to be at least yelled at by someone.

"Th-thanks, I don't deserve to be treated so nicely after what happened."

"Stop beating yourself up over it," Luke told her.

Anise wiped her eyes and nodded before changing the subject, "So...why did Isabell rejoin the God-Generals?"

Everyone looked at each other.

"She never said," Natalia responded, "I was wondering the same thing."

"I wonder what reason she could have for rejoining when she knew Alex was with us," Tear wondered, "She did fight with us in the Absorption Gate."

"It appeared as if Mohs had something on her as well," Jade said.

"That wouldn't be surprising," Luke said, glaring at nothing, "Damn bastard."

"Actually," the colonel started, "I believe the name Alex used for him was 'douche bag'."

"I can't believe that word just came out of your mouth," Luke said, his eyes wide.

"I was only repeating what Alex said. Personally I think her sister's starting to rub off on her."

"Isabell talks like that?" Anise asked.

"I'm afraid so," Jade sighed, "It's a side of her I saw quite often in Grand Chokmah, actually."

"Still, that doesn't sound like something Alex would say," Ion said, tilting his head as if trying to picture her saying it.

"I don't know," Luke admitted, "I can see it."

"I can't," Anise admitted, "But it would be funny to see."

"I don't know about 'funny'," the colonel replied, "But having been there, I can visualize her saying it very well."

"I can't say I approve of the vulgarity," Natalia sighed, "But it is a fitting name for a man that horrid."

Tear nodded, "I can't truly disagree with that. Although Grand Maestro Mohs does seem to think he's acting on Auldrant's behalf."

"You can't be serious, Tear! Not after what he put us through!"

"I'm not saying the way he's been acting is right."

"Before this escalates into a full-scale argument, and with you two it wouldn't take long for it to go that far, we should speak more about our priorities."

"You mean like getting Alex and Tear to a doctor?" Luke asked.

"How are you feeling, by the way, Tear?" Ion asked,.

"I'm doing fine, Fon Master, thank you."

"Yes," Jade answered Luke, "As well as that, we also have to wait there for the reply from Emperor Peony, as well as the people who will be taking the Tatlins to safety. Anise, none of us will be informed of where they will be going, so you should take care of any goodbyes before they leave."

Anise nodded. She was used to being away from her parents, but never like this. She didn't know how well she would be able to handle not knowing where they were, or if they were still alive, but she had to do it. She had to make sure Ion was safe, and she wanted to repay the others for spying on them all that time.

She at least owed them that.

* * *

_**A/N: I know Resurrection isn't a Hymn, but I thought an arte that powerful made more sense as one. Seeing as Tear and Van are the only ones to use the Hymns, if a bunch of Seventh Fonists were going around with the ability to use Resurrection, would anyone really die? Also, how I've described the arte in this is influenced greatly by a ToS fic called Tales of Cosplayers, by Nightfoot, which you should read if you like ToS.**_

_**I'm normally very against killing characters and bringing them back, since most cases I see of it happening lead no where and have little point but for drama, but I have reasoning for Alex dying and being brought back, and it will lead somewhere soon. On that note, the reasoning is a little on the subtle side, and it's not **__directly __**because of her dying, so you may not notice it.**_

_**Also, I do have a reason for keeping Ion alive, I'm not doing it for the hell of it. I am perfectly aware of what his staying alive means for characters like Tear and Arietta, and their character development is one of the reasons I am doing this, along with myself wanting to go a bit in my own direction since I'm tired of basically typing out a walkthrough. I thought about what one change to an event could change the course of the rest of the game the most dramatically, and that event happened to be Ion's death. By keeping him alive I can make way for plenty more changes, character development, as well as other things I can't go into because of spoilers.**_

_**Sorry for rambling, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I would love it if you took time to review.**_


	56. Turn For the Worse

_**A/N: Sorry it took a while for me to update. I spent most of the free time I had this month working on a birthday present for a friend, so I could only get to this recently. I'll be working more over the summer as well, so the updates might come a little further apart over the next two months, I hope for at least three or four updates this summer, since work can be really stressful (the amount of stupid questions and asshole customers I get really stress me out) in the summer and it'll make me less likely to work on this on any day other than my days off. I'll do my best though.**_

* * *

_Chapter 56: Turn For the Worse _

He was alive, and he didn't know exactly how he felt about it.

It was because his friends had gone through the events in Mt. Zaleho to save him that everyone was in the condition they were in. Exhaustion and a few burns were the least of their worries. Luke and Guy were suffering from what appeared to be heat stroke while Alex still hadn't woken up, and Tear was suffering worse than she ever had from the miasma as well.

On top of that, the Tatlins were in more danger than they had ever been, and had to have a safe house set up for them somewhere in Malkuth. Anise wouldn't even know where her own parents were in hiding once the Malkuth soldiers Jade had sent for met them in Belkend to escort them to safety.

With all that had changed in the course of one day, there was one question going through Ion's head after everything happened: was his life really worth all the trouble they were going through?

_When_ he died never really mattered to him - he knew practically since his creation that he would die at a very young age. What mattered to him was _how_ he died. He wanted to go out on his own terms, and saving Tear from the miasma had seemed like the perfect way to do that.

But the others saved him, and so while he was grateful they went through all the trouble it took to stall his death a little, he hated watching Tear suffer knowing he could have done something to save her.

He knew Luke wouldn't accept Ion's idea to save her life at the cost of his, nor would Tear for that matter, and after all the trouble he caused them, he didn't even bring it up. He planned to keep the idea to himself until the next opportunity came. He didn't want to save Tear's life knowing she would only blame herself for his death.

Unless it came to the point where Tear was on her death bed, he would wait and give Luke the chance to find a way to save her without Ion having to give up the life they had worked so hard to save, but that didn't make it any easier for him to watch her suffer while he knew of a way to cure her.

"To think that we're flying through the sky right now," Oliver Tatlin said thoughtfully, the silence in the Albiore finally being lifted. The naive man's words did nothing to ease the tension, though.

Pamela nodded right beside him, "Yes, what an odd machine! I wonder how it's possible for it stay in the sky...?"

Ion and the others all seemed relatively surprised that the two of them were acting as if everything were normal and they weren't just forced into a situation where they weren't even safe in their own home. Ion liked the Tatlins, but sometimes he wondered how they could live their lives so happily considering their circumstances.

Natalia, Anise, and Ion, who were all sitting together, looked over at Guy, for the briefest of moments expecting him to go off on one his classic rants about fon machinery to respond to Pamela.

He appeared to not even have heard the older woman's comment. He sat silently next to Luke and Tear as they attempted to talk him out of his apparent shocked trance. They had yet to see any real reaction from him since they left the volcano, and they were all very concerned about him. One of the things they had all noticed about him over their months together was that he was very good at keeping his thoughts and emotions to himself, and that couldn't have been exactly healthy.

Alex was in the small cabin to the back of the room everyone was seated in. She had shown no signs at all of waking up, and Jade wanted to keep an eye on her for any changes. Along with him, Isabell remained in the room, refusing to leave her sister's side. Guy probably would have been there as well but there wasn't enough room for all of them, and on top of that, Ion didn't think he could stand to see her in that condition any longer.

After Jade had explained to Anise and Ion what had happened inside the volcano, Anise had immediately blamed herself for it. And while her parents and Ion tried to convince her otherwise, she would not change her mind on the subject. Only Isabell managed to stop her apologies by telling her the only person at fault was the ex-God-General herself. It was her blade that had killed Alex, no one else could be blamed for that.

It was clear Anise didn't fully agree with the logic, but she kept it to herself. The truth was, Ion felt at fault for Alex's position as well. If he hadn't let himself be taken captive, none of it would have ever happened.

No one would be covered in burns, no one would be recovering from heat stroke, and no one would have had be brought back from the dead.

"We'll reach Belkend in about half an hour," Noelle said from the pilot's seat. Even she didn't sound her usual chipper self.

"Thank you, Noelle," Ion said quietly, more in hopes to break the awful silence. He didn't like the tense feeling around everyone.

Tear eventually got up to inform Jade and Isabell they would be landing soon, so they could make sure to be seated safely when they started descending. Luke remained by Guy's side, still trying to get him to open up a little, or at least say something.

It wasn't long before Tear reemerged from the cabin area with Isabell and Jade, who was carrying Alex on his back, in tow. Alex was placed in one of the seats while Tear fastened a seat belt around her before the others sat down as well, Isabell next to her sister to hold her in an upright position. Ion noticed Guy watching with an unreadable expression on his face before Noelle announced that she was starting decent.

Ion sighed, he had a strong feeling that the only person who had a chance of getting Guy to open up was the person who was currently unable to. He hoped she would wake up soon. The faster things were back to normal, or the closest they could get to normal, the better.

* * *

"Why am I not surprised to see you all here again?"

"We need your help, Dr. Shu," Natalia said, ignoring the strange greeting, "I assure you, this is an emergency."

Shu took a closer look at the group, and his eyes stopped on Alex, who was currently being carried by Jade, "I suppose it's too much to ask that you at least attempt to lead ordinary lives?"

"Auldrant would be screwed if we did," Luke deadpanned, "Can you help us or not?"

Shu sighed before taking a few steps toward Jade to take a closer look at Alex, "I'm not about to turn down someone who needs my help. What happened to her?"

Tear quickly explained what she understood of what transpired, with Jade filling in the blanks. When she started explaining how she had to use a Hymn to resuscitate Alex, Shu perked his head and looked at her in interest.

"Really? I had no idea Yulia's Hymns could be so powerful as to bring back the dead."

Tear merely nodded in response, probably wanting to keep the topic firmly on Alex. Shu called for a couple of his assistants to take Alex off of Jade's hands and carry her into the examination room.

"I'd like to examine you as well, Tear. With your condition, an arte that powerful may have taken an even greater toll on your body than it normally would have."

Tear didn't object to this, and she accompanied the two assistants with Alex into the examination room.

The others made to follow them before Shu held out a hand to stop them, "I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask you to wait out here until the examination is complete. It shouldn't take too long, I'll send someone to get you when I'm finished."

While they reluctantly waited for the results, Anise took the opportunity to pull her parents away from the rest of the group to talk. Ion imagined it must have been hard for her to say goodbye to them, and not even know where they would be for a long time.

Isabell and Guy looked the most irritated about having to wait outside of the medical rooms, and as the minutes turned to an hour, Ion was starting to understand their irritation.

Everyone was starting to get really impatient by the time the doors finally slid open again and a young nurse with long, brown hair approached them with a clipboard.

"There was a bit of internal damage where she was impaled, but with your friend, Tear's, help we were able to fix that. She appears to be recovering, but there's no way to tell when she'll wake up. Is there a family member I could speak to? With Alex not conscious to give consent, we can't exactly give out the finer details to anyone willing to listen."

"I'm her sister."

The nurse nodded before telling the rest of the group they were allowed to see Alex. With that said, she led Isabell away to talk to her privately. She looked a little annoyed about having to wait a little longer to see Alex, but didn't complain about it.

The rest of them wasted no time in entering the medical room and finding Alex, who was laying on one of the beds with some sort of machine hooked up to her that appeared to be monitoring her heart-rate. Tear was in the room as well, speaking to Shu.

Once Shu took notice of them, he made his way over.

"I'd like to keep her here until she wakes up. There's probably nothing to worry about, but this is the first time I've ever heard of someone coming back from the dead. She would be kept under constant surveillance, so if anything happens, I'll let you know immediately. Once she wakes up I'd like to examine her again, to make sure everything's still ordinary. That being said, you all will have to stay in the hotel until she's awake, and you can only be here during visiting hours."

Guy looked like he was about to say something when Luke spoke, "You can't bend the rules just a little bit?"

Natalia and Ion agreed, both attempting use their statuses to persuade Shu, but he was adamant.

"Your status doesn't matter to me, it's best not to crowd her for long periods of time." Before they could protest anymore, Shu started up again, "And about Tear, unfortunately there's still nothing we can do about the miasma in her body but give her more powerful medicine to suppress the pain. I wish there was something more we could do for her."

If even professional doctors were unable to do anything for Tear, Ion didn't think anyone could. Still, he would wait until a better time to bring up his idea. It would be almost cruel of him to bring it up right after they saved him.

At that moment. Isabell entered the room with the nurse from before, and she wasted no time in taking one of the seats next to Alex's bed.

"Is there anything else concerning Alex that we need to be worried about?" Jade asked her.

Isabell didn't take her eyes off of her sister when she shook her head, "Nothing really important."

Ion got the idea she was keeping something to herself, but before he could ask, the door slid open once again, and this time two Malkuth soldiers entered. Ion knew immediately why they were there.

"Colonel Curtiss," the male said, saluting, "We had a feeling we'd find you all here."

"What happened to Alex?" the dark-skinned woman said, looking over at her bed.

"It's a long story," Jade replied.

The male sighed, "Well. I guess I can't really say it's that great to see you guys again. What exactly have you gotten yourselves into this time?"

Just as Ion was wondering what their relationship with Alex and Jade was, Jade spoke again.

"There's no time to explain. Lyneya, Carolus, I trust you were told what you will be doing?"

"Yeah," Lyneya replied, "So which ones of this group are we gonna be lookin' after?"

Jade motioned for the Tatlins to follow him out the door, with Lyneya and Carolus close behind. Ion suspected this was so Jade could fully explain the plan to the soldiers while Anise said her final goodbyes to her parents. At any rate, it wasn't long before Jade and Anise returned.

The room was silent for a while before the nurse cleared her throat and turned to Jade, "I'm sorry, did that soldier just say your name was Colonel Curtiss?"

Jade raised an eyebrow at her, and she seemed to take this as a yes. Within an instant, her professional demeanor disappeared.

"As in 'Jade the Necromancer'?" she asked excitedly, "No way, this is so cool! I was on cleaning duty with a couple others in Commandant Grants' old office and I came across one of your books, and-"

"Lauren," Shu said sternly as most of the others looked at her as if she were crazy for taking an interest in Jade, "This is neither the time or place."

Lauren looked irritated at being interrupted, but still spoke calmly, "Right, sorry."

"Not at all," Jade told her, "In fact, that may have been the perfect ice breaker, so to speak."

"Isn't it a little weird seeing Jade being nice to people?" Anise asked.

"I can't believe Jade has fans..." Luke muttered in response as Lauren started rambling again before Shu got fed up of it and sent her to do something else outside of the room.

She left in a huff, and a snicker was heard from the behind Shu. Ion wasn't quite sure how he had missed the doctor's assistant before. He wore thick, round glasses, partially hidden under a mop of shaggy brown hair. Once he noticed everyone staring at him, he wiped the smirk off his face and continued scribbling down notes on the clipboard in his hands.

"I'm sorry about that," Shu said, and the others finally took their eyes off the shaggy-haired man, "She gets like that sometimes. At any rate, I'm afraid you'll have to come back in the morning during visiting hours. It's getting late, and I'm sure all of you could use some decent rest after what you've been through. I'll speak with Governor Viridian and see if we can get you a deal on some rooms at the hotel, since you may have to stay for a while."

"That won't be necessary," Natalia said, "I can explain the situation to him myself. I am sure that we have bothered you quite enough."

"It's no bother, Your Highness," Shu replied, "But perhaps things would go more smoothly if you spoke to him yourself."

"Are you sure we can't stay just a little longer?" Guy asked, his eyes on Alex.

"You need your rest, young man," Shu replied, "Even a blind man could tell you're all exhausted. You can see her again in the morning, everything will be fine."

Guy still looked reluctant to leave, but Shu found a better way of persuading him.

"If you all aren't leaving in the next five minutes, I'm afraid I'll have to call in security to escort you to the hotel. I don't want to see any of you back here until you're all well rested, do you hear me?"

"Okay, we get it," Luke said, raising his hands in the air as Guy and Isabell reluctantly got up, "We'll leave."

"Try not to get yourselves killed on your way to the hotel, will you?"

They filed out the door, and as soon as the door slid shut, Luke complained, "He acts like we're in there everyday! It's been at least three months since something like this happened!"

"Something felt...off about one of the assistants," Jade said, ignoring Luke's comment altogether.

"You mean that nurse?" Anise asked, "I thought she was kinda crazy, too, but I didn't think it was anything to worry about."

"That isn't who I meant," Jade replied, "I'm not sure how to explain it. I'll just leave it at that for now."

"Would you please stop saying things like that?" Luke asked, "You must enjoy getting us paranoid like this."

"Oh no," Jade feigned shock, "You found me out."

"I think I know who you were talking about," Guy said, surprising everyone by actually speaking, "I didn't like the look of him either."

"Oh," Anise said, "You mean that creepy guy with the glasses? That makes more sense."

"Yes," Jade agreed, "I'm not sure I like the idea of leaving Alex alone with him in the area."

"We shouldn't judge solely on appearances, Colonel," Natalia told him.

"Yeah, if we did, I doubt we'd ever grow to trust you," Luke said, trying to lighten the mood.

"And perhaps you would have been better off not trusting me," Jade replied, wiping the smile off Luke's face.

"You're joking, right?"

"Maybe," Jade shrugged, "Maybe not."

"Sometimes I hate you, you know that?"

"That hurts, Luke! Do try to be nicer to this old man, I have a fragile heart, you see."

"Shut up!"

...

It had been a couple of days since they had met with Shu, and Alex still hadn't woken up. The doctors all said she was starting to show signs of consciousness at least,

Isabell was happy she would have her sister back soon.

And yet she was nervous.

She didn't know what she could say to Alex, how she could possibly make it up to her for what happened. Knowing Alex, she would probably just act like nothing had happened, like Isabell hadn't killed her, accident or no. Apology accepted, now let's just move on.

But that wasn't good enough for Isabell. She hated herself for what happened, she couldn't just forget about it. At the very least, she wanted Alex to be angry with her, to let her know just how stupid she was to rejoin the God-Generals, no matter the reason, even if she already knew that herself.

On top of that, she had what that nurse Lauren told her to deal with as well. How was she supposed to bring that up?

_"Oh, thank Yulia you're all right! By the way, you can't have kids."_

That would just be cruel. But it would be just as cruel to let her live in blissful ignorance. Everyone knew that after being lied to for fifteen years about her upbringing that Alex hated being lied to, even worse when someone's just choosing to keep something from her.

She had to tell her somehow, but she just didn't want to do it right after she woke up, when everything would be completely overwhelming. She didn't want to bring it up in front of the others, either. That was for Alex to know, and if she wanted to tell the others, it was her decision.

How would Alex take it, though? Isabell knew that Guy wanted to restore the House of Gardios, and that information could really get into Alex's head. There was always adoption though, so maybe it wouldn't be too bad.

She was roused from her thoughts by the sound of Tear going into another one of her coughing fits and Luke immediately beginning to fuss over her. After her coughing had calmed down, Luke insisted, as he always did, that she go and see Shu about it. Even though Tear argued that there was no point, eventually the two of them left the room to find the doctor, leaving Isabell and Guy alone with Alex.

Isabell could understand Luke's concern for Tear, but Shu must have been getting fed up of him dragging Tear to see him every time she started coughing. From what Isabell could tell, Tear's condition was steadily getting worse, what with the miasma being back.

The group's routine over the past couple days hadn't changed at all. Ion spent a lot of his time close to Tear or Alex, and when he wasn't with them, he was with Natalia and Jade, discussing with some of the scientists in the lab about what could be done about the miasma. Isabell heard them talking about how they'd like to be able to get a hold of some Spinoza guy, who had apparently locked himself into his lab so he couldn't be disturbed.

Anise remained by Ion's side every second of the day. While the girl attempted to put on a cheerful face in hopes that it would ease the tension at least a little, it was obvious to everyone that she was worried sick about her parents, and still beating herself up over what happened in Daath. She seemed to feel a bit better after Luke pulled her aside to talk to, though.

Tear's health seemed to be descending into a downward spiral, and so everyone was just as worried about her as they were about Alex. Luke and his little cheagle were always with her, and Isabell could tell the obvious concern was getting on Tear's nerves a little.

It was obvious everyone was getting a little nervous about how they had remained in the same place for so long after the events in Daath, it was only a matter of time before Mohs planned something again. They didn't have a lot of choice, though. With Alex still unconscious, it would be difficult to do anything. On top of that the group didn't appear to have any leads on what to do next.

The only good thing that came from what the group went through was Ion's survival. At the very least, they didn't go through all of that for nothing, and once Alex was awake, things would be close to normal again, save for Tear and the miasma. She felt bad for them, though, and how they were always caught in the middle of things.

Isabell had to wonder how long Ion would last, though. It was inevitable that he would die eventually, and she noticed he kept watching Tear, even when she wasn't having one of her coughing fits or coming close to fainting.

If it weren't for Alex, Isabell wouldn't still be there with them. She didn't know how well she would fit into a group as close as theirs, and to be honest, it was a little intimidating. None of the others really tried to talk to her since the first meeting with Shu, though that could have been out of respect for the situation.

But at the same time, at every opportunity he had, Luke would attempt to get Guy to speak, or leave Alex's room to get something to eat, and Guy only ever had a few words to respond with. Luke would try to get Isabell to do the same things as well in the beginning, but when it became obvious she wasn't leaving the room until Shu came along and made her, he stopped. His concern for his best friend, though, was unrivaled, even the others told him it was probably best to leave him be, and that he would be back to normal once Alex was awake.

Isabell was concerned for him as well, though not nearly as much as Luke was. No one had ever seen Guy that way. He just seemed...broken.

And that was her fault, too. She was an idiot to ever consider rejoining the God-Generals. Even when she thought it was her only choice to rejoin to make sure Alex survived the volcano, she shouldn't have. She should have told Dist to shove it and went to inform the others of their plan instead, it would have saved them of this whole experience.

She was bad luck, and that was why she planned to leave soon after Alex woke up and she knew her sister was all right. Alex would probably have a better chance of living and being happy if Isabell had nothing to do with her life.

She wondered if Morgan would have lived if he had never gotten involved her.

It was lonely, not having any friends, but she would rather be alone to begin with, than get attached to someone only for them to die once she realized her life would suck without them.

In that way, she was happy she never had the chance to really be with Morgan, though it didn't make her hate his girlfriend, Eliza, any less. That horrible woman never deserved his love, or anyone else's for that matter.

It was too bad neither of them realized just how awful the girl was until after Morgan's death. She could still visualize clearly Eliza's dumbfounded look when Isabell informed her of his death and gave her the ring.

_"He can't seriously expect me to remain faithful to a dead man?!" _she had scoffed before wondering aloud how much the ring would sell for.

Isabell hadn't thought before slapping her senseless and taking the ring back from her, shouting at her about how horrible she was and that she hoped the bitch died alone.

A couple of weeks went by, and Eliza had found someone else to shower her with gifts.

She was married within the year, and Isabell was the one still alone.

Isabell had no idea how girls like that could trick guys the way they did. She wondered if Eliza had stayed as sweet as she pretended to be around boys once she was married, if she hadn't, then whoever her husband was was surely regretting his decision.

Isabell was resigned to dying alone, the most she could ask of Yulia and Lorelei was that Alex wouldn't have to suffer the same life she had. She had to trust that Alex wouldn't do anything rash once she found out she may never have children.

Before she knew it, night had fallen again, and Shu came into the room to inform her and Guy that visiting hours were over. They stood up and left without argument, silently making their way back to the hotel.

Guy muttered a 'good night' to her before entering the room he shared with Luke and Jade, and Isabell entered her own room. She didn't feel comfortable sharing a room with any of her sister's friends, since she didn't know them very well, and wanted to be spared the awkward small talk, so she got her own room separate from everyone else and paid the full price for it.

She pulled out the ribbon holding her hair up and discarded her uniform before falling onto the soft bed.

Her dreams, as they usually were, were plagued with images of Morgan and now Alex. Memories of Isabell and Morgan just talking and joking around, as they always did, but somehow her mind managed to integrate Alex as she was at the age of four into that time, and she found herself wishing Alex had grown up in the setting despite how it probably wouldn't have ended well for her. Chances were she would have been a God-General as well, and she wouldn't have been as happy as she was with her current friends.

Eventually as the night wore on, the four-year-old Alex's hair started to turn black, and suddenly she wore glasses. She wasn't Alex anymore, but Isabell wished more than anything that she would have had the chance to be that girl's mother.

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, the sky was still tinted pink. Seeing no reason to try and get anymore sleep despite the fact that visiting hours weren't open yet, she wasted no time in pulling her hair back and getting dressed. She would just go for a walk or something until she could visit Alex again.

When she got down to the lobby, she saw that Guy and Jade were already there, along with that nurse, Lauren, from the other day. Her hair was messy, and her uniform was covered in blood.

"What's going on?" Isabell asked as she approached them, immediately getting a bad feeling and remembering what Jade had said about the one doctor's assistant that felt off to him.

"Ah, Isabell," Jade said as the took notice of her, "I was about to come get you."

"What happened?"

"There's been an incident in the lab," Guy told her, not looking at her. Isabell noticed he looked a little pale as he waited for Lauren to tell them more.

"Last night the God-General Dist broke into the lab. A lot of the lab workers and doctors were murdered by the Oracle Knights Dist brought with him. Dr. Shu and myself are among the handful of survivors. There's only about ten of us left now..." she took a deep breath before continuing, "Apparently, one of Dr. Shu's assistants had been working as a spy for Dist ever since he and Van had to move their lab somewhere else. He informed Dist of your whereabouts the night Alex was checked in."

Isabell felt awful that their being there was what caused all those men and women to lose their lives, but Alex was her first priority. Did Dist do something with her?

Jade and Guy seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because when Lauren saw the looks on their faces, she continued.

"But she's fine! As far as Dr. Shu could tell, Dist didn't even get to her, her room didn't look like it was affected at all. In fact, Alex just woke up about an hour ago."

* * *

_**A/N: NinjaLadyHinata (also known as the person who cosplayed as Isabell) made a cameo appearance in this as nurse Lauren. I had to make her a bit less, um...crazy, I guess, for it to work, and I don't think how I have her is at all how she acts, but it was still fun to throw her in there. xD On the note of her cosplaying as Isabell, she walked around Collosacon for a day as Isabell, and apparently one person recognized her and told her she needed a good love interest... so yeah, I was told to get on it. xD So whoever that person was that recognized her (and I think it's amazing that you did, by the way), keep your eyes peeled in the next few chapters. So far the only picture of seen of the cosplay is one on Facebook, so I can't really spam my dA page with them yet. xD**_

_**Please review and tell me what you think!**_


	57. A Wrench in Their Non-Existent Plans

_**A/N: **__**Once again, NinjaLadyHinata makes a cameo as Nurse Lauren, but considering the circumstances I think I may have not made her look so good. ^^; Sorry. Should have thought this cameo thing through.**_

_**P.S.: What are your thoughts on Funimation getting the rights to the Abyss anime? I don't know how I would feel about any voice changes, for Jade and Guy in particular. xD But other than that I'm excited for it.**_

* * *

_Chapter 57: A Wrench In Their Nonexistent Plans_

"...room seems t...untouched...how odd..."

"Who th...cares?! Everyone el...dead! And it's prob...cause that gro...brought _her_ here!"

Where was she? Why did her head _hurt_ so much?

Alex's whole body felt heavy, and even with her eyes shut she felt as though the room was spinning. She didn't even know what _room_ she was in!

She began to feel the familiar sensation of her body falling, telling her she was about to fall asleep again, but she had to know where she was first. Where the others were.

But her eyes wouldn't open, and her ears didn't seem to be working well either. From what she could piece together of what they were saying, she was in the middle of some kind of attack. Still no hints on where she happened to be.

The man's voice sounded vaguely familiar, but the girl's...she had never heard her voice before.

Wait, the man just mentioned Dist, so he must have been responsible for the panic undoubtedly being caused. She didn't have to see what was going on to know the place was in chaos.

There were alarms blaring, making Alex's head pound even more than it already was, and the girl in the room with her was making enough of a fuss for it to be obvious what was happening.

People were dying.

And it was because Alex was there.

She tried to remember what happened before she blacked out for however long. She knew they were trying to save Ion from Mohs, Anise's parents being held hostage...and she definitely saw replicas of people important to them...there was also something about a volcano?

It was all becoming clearer. The group was definitely separated by a dragon inside Mt. Zaleho.

The thought made her panic. Alex had no idea if the others survived that. And if they did, did they get to Ion on time? She tried not to worry about it, the girl in the room mentioned something about a group on the run. That had to be her friends, right?

She was missing something though...what happened to _her_?

As she tried to remember what happened after the group was separated, the aching all over her body grew worse, particularly near her abdomen, and a groan of pain escaped her lips without her even realizing it.

The two others in the lab immediately stopped talking, and though Alex's eyelids were still heavy, she forced them open pleased to find that the room was dimly lit, so no brightness assaulted her vision. She managed to cover her eyes with one hand before adjusting the light.

"She's awake."

"Great timing..." the girl muttered, "She's been out for close to a week and she chooses _now_ to wake up? I can't go get her friends right now, not until we know it's safe."

Through half-lidded eyes, Alex took a look around the room. She recognized the place as the medical room in Belkend's lab, so that answered that question, and she knew Dr. Shu, but the girl remained a mystery, though it was clear she had to be a nurse. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the shining, still wet blood covering their uniforms.

"The alarm will likely wake up the whole town," Shu said, beginning to check Alex over, clearly trying to keep himself calm. "I doubt the Oracle Knights responsible for this are going to stay long knowing that."

"What's happening?" Alex croaked out.

"The Oracle Knights attacked," Shu explained, pulling out a stethoscope to hear Alex's heart rate, "We believe they were after you, as far as we can tell, they didn't find your room. We just managed to get back in here ourselves, so we can't be too sure, but this room seems untouched compared to the state the rest of the lab is in."

"That doesn't make sense, though," the nurse said, "The God-General Dist used to do research here, and if he found out she _was_ here, he would know where the medical ward was and tell his men."

"I can't see why they would come here simply to kill the researchers here this early. If they were aiming to kill researchers and engineers going against them, like in Sheridan, they would have struck at night when there were still plenty here. The only logical conclusion I can think of is they wanted to get to Alex without people to get in their way. At any rate, you were very lucky they didn't find you."

"Yes, we're _very_ lucky the poor researchers unfortunate enough to be here this early were killed instead."

"I'm sorry," Alex said, she hated that people were killed because of her.

"No..." the nurse sighed, looking a little like she regretted her words, "It's not your fault - it was that bastard Leo that sold us up the river to Dist. I should have known he was spying for the Oracle Knights."

"You couldn't have," Shu told her while moving over to his desk, starting to rummage through drawers, "If anyone's to blame for what happened, it would be me. I was the one who hired him."

"Still, he was sketchy as Hell."

All at once, the sirens blaring above them ceased, and Alex let out a sigh of relief as the pounding in her head lessened slightly.

"Was it just some knights?" Alex asked, she had heard Dist's name a few times, but no mention of him actually being seen yet, "Or did you actually see Dist?"

The nurse sighed, "Yeah, I saw him. No mistaking that whiny voice and weird floating chair. Never thought I would have been scared of someone like...well, him."

Alex let out a dark chuckle, closing her eyes, "I know the feeling."

Dr. Shu returned to the side of her bed with a small bottle of pills. He shook a couple of them onto his gloved hand and gave them to Alex, "They should help stop the pain. You'll most likely have to take these for the next few days, depending on how you're feeling."

Alex nodded as the nurse helped her into a sitting position and went to the small sink in the corner to get her a glass of water. Alex didn't wait the moment it took for her to return before swallowing the pills, but still accepted the water gratefully before guzzling it down.

It was then Alex noticed that the nurse was shaking badly. The whole event must have been terrifying for her, and by the blood on her uniform, she could tell that she had been in the middle of the attack. Alex wondered how she had gotten away. She didn't even appear to have any wounds.

Apparently Alex's thoughts were written on her face.

"I had to play dead beside a few corpses to avoid being killed," the nurse explained bluntly without looking at her, before wandering over to Shu. The two of them began to converse over a clipboard, not loud enough for Alex to hear what they were saying. She marveled at how well they were dealing with the situation, though there was a really good chance they just wanted to put their minds to something else.

She found herself staring at the door, wondering what the rest of the lab looked like.

Before she could really think about it, Shu was suddenly at her side again. She didn't even notice it because he had made himself known, but rather because there was suddenly a bright light blinding the vision she was still trying to get back into focus.

Did he have to point that light directly into her eyes? She flinched at the brightness.

"You mind?" she asked tiredly, instinctively going to cover her eyes, "Headache..."

"I'm sorry," Shu replied, "Bear with me here, I'm only making sure you're really all right."

"Blinding me is gonna do that?"

Shu sighed. It was clear her comments were getting on his nerves, but she was too tired to care even a little bit.

There was a knock on the door and both the nurse and Shu jumped at the sound before a voice at the other side of the door explained that the threat was gone and they were coming into the room. It was probably better that way than breaking down the door and giving everyone a heart attack.

The nurse unlocked the door and two Kimlascan soldiers entered, explaining what they knew about the damage done. There were a handful of people now dead, some were injured or wavering on the edge of life and they had medics and Seventh Fonists already at work to get them stable, but many other scientists and researchers had managed to find safe places to hide and were only shaken, much like the nurse and Shu.

"Lauren, could you go to the hotel and inform her friends that she's awake? They should also know about the attack, I'm sure they'd like to know about it."

Alex thought immediately about how furious Natalia would be at the deaths of some of her people being caused by the God-Generals, and she was sure Ion would be upset too...if he was still alive, anyway.

The nurse, Lauren apparently, looked very put on the spot, her eyes widening slightly in fear of the idea of leaving the room.

"I could escort you, if you'd like," one soldier added, clearly taking notice of this.

She nodded slowly and left the room with the soldier in tow, leaving the other soldier wth them. No doubt she felt safer with a trained and armed soldier next to her. Alex would have, too.

Shu continued to examine Alex and ask her questions while they waited for Lauren to get the others. It was apparently still quite early in the morning, so it wasn't even for certain that any of them were awake yet.

Most of Shu's questions were of the 'yes or no' variety, which Alex was thankful for. She really didn't feel like talking much at all. He explained to her a little of what happened, and how long she had been out, though most of what he was saying seemed to be going in one ear and out the other.

It wasn't much longer before the door burst open and Alex had to force herself not to groan at how noisy the two newcomers were.

"Alex!"

"Not so loud..." Alex slurred, leaning into Isabell as her older sister embraced her, happy to not have to put forth even the little effort of sitting up on her own anymore. She closed her eyes, once again wanting to fall asleep.

Suddenly, it all came back to her. Isabell showing up in front of Alex and Jade in Mt. Zaleho, telling them she couldn't let them pass. She remembered thinking Mohs must have had something on her, then they were clashing blades. She didn't remember much more than that.

Alex wanted to protest when Isabell let go of her, but dropped the idea when another set of arms wrapped around her shoulders as their owner sat next to her on the bed. She didn't have to open her eyes to know it was Guy, the scent was too familiar.

She leaned into him and breathed in deeply, somehow just knowing he was there managed to clam her down after the initial panic the chaos in the lab had caused. She wasn't even aware she had needed calming down until he was there.

"Hey," she said in little more than a hoarse whisper.

There was a pause before he replied, almost as quietly, "...Hey."

It probably seemed like a strange greeting considering the circumstances, but to them it was enough.

The words didn't need to be said for them to be clear:

_Sorry for worrying you._

_I'm glad you're alright._

She forced her eyes open once more and leaned away from him. Looking at them closely, they both appeared tired, to say the least. They looked like they hadn't slept in a long time, and that probably wasn't far from the truth.

"What does the rest of the lab look like?"

Isabell sighed, "Not good. There weren't as many deaths as we expected when the nurse told us, but still..."

Alex nodded slowly. The look on her face appeared to have betrayed her thoughts.

"Don't go blaming yourself for what happened," Shu told her while writing something down on his clipboard, "Any unneeded stress will just make recovery that much harder for you."

She nodded again, "Where are the others?"

"They're coming," Guy said, his voice still quiet, "Jade had to wake them up first."

They sat in comfortable silence, Alex was thankful they picked up on her wanting quiet, and waited for the others to arrive.

Alex didn't know yet if they had managed to save Ion, but she couldn't bring herself to ask either despite the feeling of suspense. She would find out soon.

After a few minutes, the other members of their group filed into the room, led by Tear and Luke. As Luke hugged her and told her he was happy she was finally awake, she looked over his shoulder for any signs of green hair and white robes. Her heart dropped a little when she noticed the lack of the Fon Master standing next to Anise. She didn't even register Mieu jumping onto her lap.

The next few seconds were the longest Alex had experienced in a long while, she couldn't help but think that what they had gone through in the volcano had been for nothing, until time unfroze and Ion walked through the door with the nurse and soldier from before.

She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"...once things are safe in Daath again, I'll file a complaint. Sadly that won't do anything for the people that died here today. It probably won't mean much, but I will make sure to apologize to their families as well. I'll see to it that Mohs and Dist do not get away with this."

"We thank you for you concern, Fon Master," the soldier said, bowing.

"There's no need to thank me," Ion smiled sadly, "If I was a more competent leader this never would have happened."

"Don't blame yourself, Fon Master," Tear told him, "This had nothing to do with you."

"Yeah, Ion, this is all Mohs' fault!"

Alex winced slightly at Anise's loud voice, and Natalia, who had automatically sat down on Alex's other side and began checking her for any signs of needing more healing, noticed this.

"Please speak quietly, Anise," the princess chided, "Is your head in pain, Alex?"

"Oops, sorry, Alex," Anise whispered, shoulders slumping. Alex noticed then that she didn't have her hair up in her usual pigtails, but instead hung in waves around her shoulders and down her back. Her hair was a lot longer than Alex thought it was and she took a mental note to tell the girl she looked a lot more mature with her hair down; that seemed to be a thing Anise was going for considering her constantly trying to find a rich husband.

When she took a look at the rest of them and noticed how half of them were still in their pajamas with their hair untamed, she realized they must have been in a hurry to get to the lab.

Alex smiled tiredly at the girl before replying to Natalia. "Yeah," she admitted, "But Doctor Shu gave me some pills, it's helped a bit."

Natalia nodded before holding her hand to Alex's forehead and activating a healing arte. Alex let out a sigh of relief as the throbbing in her head faded even more, leaning into her hand without even realizing it.

Alex quietly listened as the group went about asking Shu for more details on the attack. He explained they didn't know much other than who was behind it.

Alex spent the conversation watching everyone, making sure they didn't have any injuries from Zaleho that were near as bad as hers. A few of them appeared like they were recovering from burns that looked to be mostly healed, but from what she could tell there was nothing serious.

She took a moment to be relieved that they were able to save Ion, but she had to wonder what happened to Anise's parents. She doubted anything horrible happened to them, Anise was still with them and didn't seem to be acting like a person in grieving, anyway. But if there was one thing she had learned on their last visit to Daath, it was that Anise was a good actress.

Still, she had to doubt the girl would be acting like she normally did if her parents were killed or injured. Already she seemed quieter than she normally was, but not to the point where Alex had to really worry.

Isabell hovered awkwardly on the sidelines for the entire conversation, and Alex knew it was because of what happened in Zaleho. She had to be blaming herself for it. Did she think Alex would hate her for it, though? Alex would have to talk to her about what happened later.

There was no denying she was disappointed in Isabell's choice, but there had to be a reason for it. She couldn't judge until she knew what it was.

Guy's behavior was probably the most worrying.

Ever since he had first hugged her upon finding that she was okay, he hadn't looked at her, instead he spent most of the time staring at nothing in particular. He seemed stiff, and wasn't contributing to the conversation much. He wore a serious expression on his face, and looked lost in thought, which worried her probably more than it should have.

If there was one thing she had noticed about Guy, it was his ability to keep things to himself. Except for maybe the occasional time where it was easy to tell he was angry about something, he rarely showed his emotions or thoughts about what was happening around him.

He always put on a cheerful face and told others he was fine and there was nothing to worry about. He _always_ put others before himself, doing his best to cheer them up in any way he could. She had seen that many times during their journey alone, and it had gotten to the point where it had become concerning.

Right at that moment, it was so painfully obvious he had something on his mind - that he _wasn't _fine - and she knew if anyone asked him about it he would tell them not to worry. She swore, one of these days he was going to explode from all the things he kept bottled up inside.

Maybe just knowing she was alright wasn't enough for him after all...

"...Should we explain to Alex what happened in Mt. Zaleho?" Luke asked, Alex finally coming back to the conversation at the mention of her name.

"I'm not sure how much information she would be able to take in right now," Tear told him while watching Alex carefully.

Almost as if on cue, Alex's eyes drooped again. She found herself leaning on Natalia for support and spilling Mieu onto the floor.

"Yes. How about you all come back later in the afternoon and let her get a few hours of rest. You'll be able to explain things to her then."

"What?" Anise asked, "But all she's been doing for the past few days is sleeping!"

Ion and Tear both shh-ed her before Shu went to explaining that while she was in a comatose state, she wasn't actually sleeping. The rest of their conversation seemed far away, and echoed strangely in her head.

"She has a lot of rest to catch up on, but a few hours should be enough for to possibly participate in a conversation."

* * *

They returned that afternoon, as promised. Alex was feeling a bit better after getting a few ours of sleep, but she was still groggy and her body still ached. Still, she was at least able fully participate in the conversation this time.

The others told her about what they went through after Alex and Isabell had fought, and how one of Tear's Hymns managed to bring Alex back from the dead. Alex found it strange to think that she had actually _died_, but she thanked Tear for her efforts without hesitation. An arte that powerful couldn't have done any good on her, especially if her memory of the miasma being back was right.

And sure enough, Jade explained that miasma had come back, and they had yet to find a way of getting rid of it.

"Spinoza's in town, isn't he?" Alex asked, hoping he wasn't one of the people attacked. He was probably one of the only people who might be able to think of something if even Jade couldn't, "Why didn't you guys ask him?"

"We tried, but we couldn't get a hold of him," Luke explained, "He's been holed up in his lab and no one's been allowed in."

"And after this morning, the majority of the labs on lock-down," Anise added, "We were only allowed in because Shu called for us."

"The entire city's on lock-down, actually," Isabell said, "I don't know what good it'll do, considering the threat's almost definitely already left."

"They could be looking for other spies," Alex suggested, turning to Lauren, "You said something about a guy that worked with them that was spying for Dist shortly after I woke up right? Should make sure I wasn't hallucinating or anything."

Lauren sighed, "Yeah, Leo."

"At any rate, we can expect to be here for a few more days," Jade said, "We'll have to take this time to make sure we're ready for whatever's next. No doubt Mohs will be coming after Ion. We'll be leaving as soon as the lock-down's lifted, they already know we're here."

"Why wouldn't they go after Ion, then?" Noelle asked, voicing Alex's thoughts, eyes narrowed, "Why'd they attack the lab?"

What use could they possibly have for her? Ion would have been infinitely more useful, especially considering he probably would cooperate with them without a fight.

They were quiet for a while trying to think of a decent answer. It became apparent to Alex that the thought hadn't really crossed their minds.

"Perhaps they thought...you were an easier target?" Natalia suggested, her arms folded across her chest her eyes closed and face concentrated in thought.

"Who knows," Jade said quietly, "It's difficult to understand Dist's movements, let alone predict them."

"Even for you, huh?" Guy asked, "You guys were childhood friends, right?"

"I'm hurt that you would think that I have such a poor taste in friends."

Luke cleared his throat before changing the subject, "So we'll have to figure out where to go next before the lock-down lifts, right? Man, talking to Spinoza would probably give us some leads, he can't _still_ be locked up in his lab after what happened."

"Should we try and find him?" Tear asked.

"Why don't you guys go do that?" Isabell suggested, "I was hoping to talk to Alex alone for a bit."

The others nodded in understanding before filing out of the room, albeit a little reluctantly for some. Shu and Lauren left as well, the door sliding closed behind them.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," the statement probably seemed less truthful due to the fact Alex was avoiding looking at her sister, "It was an accident."

"That could have - _should_ have been avoided!"

Alex shrugged, "Still, it happened. Let's just put it behind us, all right?"

"I can't do that," Isabell shook her head, "And I don't think you can either. You're not looking at me."

Alex sighed before forcing her head in Isabell's direction, not entirely shocked to see tears in her eyes. "I figured Mohs had to have something on you to get you to do what he wanted. Was I wrong?"

"Not entirely," Isabell replied, looking at the ground. "It was Dist, actually. He found me and explained what they were going to do with the Fon Master. He said if I didn't join them in making sure you guys couldn't save Ion, he would find and send someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill you. I didn't think I could say no to that."

"Then why didn't you come and warn us?"

"I couldn't. Mohs and Dist had me under constant surveillance up until the moment the Fon Master was kidnapped. They didn't trust me, and I don't blame them. I tried to find a way around their guard a few times."

"What happened to 'Evanescent'?" Alex couldn't help but ask.

Isabell smiled, "My speed and stealth don't exactly work as well when I'm tied up and weaponless."

"Makes sense," Alex nodded, "Okay, I think this is my last question, why didn't you just switch sides when you saw Jade and me? Those other knights you were with weren't exactly the strongest."

"I...I don't know. I wish I had, but everything was happening so fast, and the whole time something else Dist said was nagging at the back of my mind."

"Something else?" Alex tilted her head, "What was it?"

"It's a long and complicated story, not something I really want to go into right now. Even if you knew what it was, it's a stupid excuse, and doesn't even come close to making up for what happened. You...you died because of my actions. "

Alex thought for a moment, and a quote she'd heard some time before came to mind. "Put too much time into your excuses and soon you'll be running from your mistakes."

Isabell let out a watery laugh, "I already am."

Alex almost blushed, she hadn't meant to say it out loud. She decided to change the subject. "Do you still think Van's plan has merit?"

She shook he head, "I don't think I ever really did. Even I don't understand my own actions lately... I've been kind of just floating along and going with whatever group I happen to run into without much reason. I think I need to spend some time on my own and figure out who I really am and what I really think about things. With Van around, I never really had to think for myself, I just accepted the opinions he gave me as my own. Right now, I'm just...lost. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I forgive you" Alex understood what she was really apologizing for, and that she didn't want to stay for long, though a big part of her resented the fact that she never got to be with her sister for long periods of time. She doubted she was able to hide the disappointment in her eyes, "You won't join our merry band of misfits?"

Isabell smiled tiredly, "Misfits, maybe," she sighed, "But something tells me you all won't be so merry for a while with all you have to worry about. I doubt the Necromancer's ever that 'merry' to begin with."

Alex shrugged, "Sometimes. But whenever he is, it's nothing short of terrifying."

Isabell blinked, clearly having a hard time picturing Jade like that, "I can imagine."

Quiet settled between them for a few moments before Isabell sighed and started to speak again, looking a lot more uncomfortable.

"There's something else I have to tell you, and I don't think you'll like it."

Alex felt her stomach drop just at the tone of Isabell's voice, "What is it?"

"I spoke to the nurse after they first examined you, and she told me that after the internal damage done to you in Zaleho as well as on Roneal, it's very unlikely that you can ever have children. I'm sorry."

The doubt settled in Alex's mind almost instantly.

Having children had been the last thing on her mind, even without everything that they had been going through, but she knew Guy wanted to restore House Gardios one day.

"There's always adoption!" Isabell said quickly, the look on Alex's face must have said what she was thinking, "It might not be the same, but it'll be good enough. You would be taking in a kid that needs the love you could give them, and, hey, you wouldn't have to go through pregnancy. That's a bonus, right?"

"Y-yeah..." It was clear Isabell was trying to cheer her up, to get her to not think about it too much, but despite her best efforts it wasn't working.

"It would be a long time before you would be ready to have kids anyway, right?" Isabell asked, quietly this time, "You shouldn't worry about it too much right now, worry when the time comes. You can talk to Shu tomorrow about it too, see if there's anything you can do. Besides, they only said it was unlikely, not impossible. There might be complications, but still... Just try not to think about it too much, all right? You and Guy just got together, no need to go rushing into anything."

Alex nodded stiffly, "Sure, I-I'll talk to Shu."

* * *

"So what did Spinoza say?"

The next morning had arrived too quickly, and Alex hadn't slept that well at all. She'd had too much to think about concerning the news Isabell had dropped on her the night before, and talking to Shu about it afterward hadn't helped much either. There wasn't much they could about it besides avoiding a stressful and dangerous lifestyle - and it would be stupid of her to think that was possible at that point.

The others had arrived shortly after visiting hours had begun, while Shu was finishing going over necessary details prior to releasing her from the hostpital. While Alex was eager to get out of there, she also wanted to hear what Spinoza had had to say to them, and it wasn't really something they could just talk about in public. Shu already knew a lot of the finer details anyway.

"It's not exactly good news," Luke told her.

"Not like we really expected it to be," Isabell said, "There's nothing we can do?"

"Well..."

"Guy, explain."

Guy sighed, not even arguing with Jade before explaining what they had talked about the day before, with some of the others filling in some forgotten points along the way. Alex thought t was a little odd, considering this was something Jade would have had a much easier time explaining than the others.

From what Alex got out of what they were saying, the core's vibrations had gotten too intense for the Tartarus to take anymore. And if the landship were to break apart, there would be nothing to prevent the earth's liquefaction, and the Qliphoth would go back to the way it was before.

The Outer Lands would sink into the miasma, and everyone would die.

To make matters worse, the passage rings had stopped working, so they couldn't form the dividing line anymore. Their only choice was to actually neutralize or destroy the miasma, something they had previously thought impossible.

When Alex asked how they were supposed to do that, Luke replied that Spinoza had suggested Luke's hyperresonance, saying it could break down matter to an atomic level or something.

"Is your hyperresonance really strong enough to get rid of _all_ the miasma in Auldrant?" Alex asked, disbelieving.

Luke shrugged, "I don't know, maybe. It did destroy Akzeriuth, and I wasn't even trying then..."

"Neutralizing the miasma is much more complicated than that," Jade said, completely side-stepping the awkward topic of Akzeriuth. "It would be impossible for you to do it, forget what Spinoza said, we need to find another way."

"The whole town of Belkend's still on lock-down," Ion said, "We still have time to think about our next move before we can leave."

Shu cleared his throat, "If that's all you have to discuss, I have one more thing I'd like to suggest for Alex."

He didn't wait for Alex to give him the go ahead before starting to explain about how she would need some form of physiotherapy to get her body back into proper condition. That could apparently be anything from specific stretches to begin the day to training.

She had planned on training extra hard anyway, considering she was tired of near-death experiences, she saw no problems with this. The only thing she could tell she would have a bit of difficulty with was getting up a lot earlier than everyone else to do some training every morning, she already had a hard time getting out of bed at the same time as the others!

She still had work to do on her wind control as well, she hadn't done a lot of training with it since St. Binah. During her time there she had at least managed basic control of the fonons, but she wasn't close to being able to control them and fight at the same time, which was obviously her whole reason for wanting to learn to control the fonon in the first place.

Along with getting her body back into proper shape, that was her first priority.

With instruction to take it easy the first day or so before beginning light training, she was finally leaving the hospital ward.

She only hoped she would get the chance to train a bit in Belkend if they ended up stuck there for more than the day she had to take it easy.

Upon getting outside, she noticed immediately the violet hue in the air, and wondered how she'd missed just how bad the situation was. It hadn't even been that much better inside the building, now that she thought about it.

It wasn't nearly as bad as she remembered Akzeriuth had been, where the miasma had hung in the air like a thick blanket of mist, but there was no doubt in Alex's mind that if there was nothing done about it, it wouldn't take that long for it to progress to that point.

She couldn't help but think of Tear, too, and how long she had left with the miasma back.

On top of all the new worries she had, she'd noticed that Guy really hadn't said a lot other than when he'd explained what happened with Spinoza, and even then he didn't quite seem himself. Even afterwards he hadn't been that easy to talk to, and according to anyone Alex asked, he'd been that way since Daath.

She didn't forget about the replicas they'd seen in Daath, seeing his sister couldn't have been easy. Seeing _Iemon _had been hard on everyone, and with the exception of Noelle, none of them had really known the mechanic that well.

Guy clearly had a lot of his mind, and Alex didn't want him stewing over these things on his own. He used to work with Van, what if seeing his sister had triggered something in his mind to change what he thought about things?

She doubted he would ever rejoin Van if the opportunity came along, or that seeing Mary had made him think about getting revenge again, but she couldn't just act like everything was fine when it obviously wasn't.

She made a mental note to talk to him later.

* * *

"I'm going out for a bit."

"Visiting your boyfriend?"

The rest of the day had passed slowly and uneventfully, and eventually found Alex and Isabell in their shared room at the inn once night had finally fallen.

Alex had caught up with everyone at some point throughout the day. Her conversations with Ion and Anise were a little on the awkward side, Anise was uncharacteristically nervous and had blamed herself for what happened in the volcano before Alex reassured the girl she did not blame her and that she was only trying to protect her parents. The conversation ended with Anise promising she would help Alex with her physiotherapy if she needed it, as the younger girl felt she owed it to her.

Ion had seemed a little out of sorts, maybe even a bit depressed. She found it strange that he would be depressed about not dying, and decided there had to be more to it than that, considering the topic of conversation kept circling back to Tear.

But her conversation with Guy had felt oddly forced, which was unheard of considering how easy Guy was to talk to most of the time, and hadn't touched on the events in Daath. She planned to talk to him again that night - she didn't like how talking to him wasn't easy anymore.

She was about to go see him, as Isabell had correctly assumed.

Alex couldn't help the heat rising to her cheeks as Isabell smirked at her. It had been about a month since they'd become a couple, but Alex still wasn't used to hearing someone refer to Guy as her boyfriend.

Granted, that most likely had to do with the facts that they'd been trying to keep it a secret, and the more obvious fact that they hadn't even been in the same area for quite a bit of their relationship thus far. With Alex having been sent to St. Binah for a couple weeks basically the day after they got together, and then pretty much being in a world of her own for a while, not long after the group had been reunited, there wasn't that much of a relationship yet.

"I won't wait up, then," Isabell said, falling into her bed, "Just remember you're supposed to be taking it easy for now, right?"

"Shut up."

Alex took the little bottle of pills Shu had given her just in case the medication wore off while she was with Guy. She didn't know how long she would be with him, considering there was a lot she wanted to talk to him about. It had also been a few hours since she had taken any, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

She could her the sounds of Luke and Jade talking in the colonel's room as she passed the door, though she couldn't hear what they were saying. She was just happy that she wouldn't have to worry about Luke being in the room he and Guy were sharing.

She knocked on Guy's door when she reached it, and it opened before long.

She noticed the lights weren't on and the only things keeping the room from being totally dark was a couple of fonic lanterns outside and the dim moonlight shining through the window.

"Sorry, you weren't sleeping, were you?"

Guy shook his head before letting her into the room and closing the door behind her, "No. Just thinking about things."

Alex nodded, thinking maybe this was her chance to get him to talk about whatever was bugging him, "What kind of things?"

He shrugged, sitting down on his bed, "Nothing important."

She tried a couple more subjects, but no matter what topic she tried, he didn't respond much to anything besides maybe a stiff nod or a muttered agreement to something. Even then he wasn't really looking at her.

Alex finally sighed and sat down next to him, "Guy, come on. It's really unhealthy for you to keep bottling everything up. You'll explode one of these days. "

Still nothing.

"Guy?" she tentatively reached a hand for his shoulder.

"Stop scaring me like that," he finally said, though he still wasn't looking at her. His hands clenched into fists at his sides and drew a deep, shuddering breath. "First on Mt. Roneal, then this whole thing, I don't know how much more I can take."

Alex didn't really know what she was supposed to say to this. The way he said, he made it sound as if someone had approached the group before each of the incidents referred to and asked: _"Okay, so don't ask me how I know this, but one of you is going to be taking a potentially mortal wound later on today. Any volunteers?"_

Needless to say, she would never believe them, let alone volunteer for something so absurd.

She responded the only way she knew how to such a comment: with sarcasm.

She tried to smile, but it didn't work, "All right, I promise the next time I take an injury so bad I could die against my will, I'll stop to consider it first."

Guy finally looked up at her, and what shocked her was the presence of a glare. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen him wear a facial expression like that, let alone one aimed at her.

"This isn't a joke! You were dead - you were actually _dead_! If it weren't for Tear, you would still be... I can't... I don't know _what_ I would..."

She immediately felt bad about the comment.

"Okay," she took a deep breath, "Okay, look, I'm sorry for scaring you, I really am. But it's not like I _wanted_ any of that to happen either, and I hate that it did. Not just because I came close to dying, but because Bell can't even look at me without tearing up anymore since she blames herself for what happened, and because you were so worried you're apparently pissed off at me, and because everyone else keeps walking on eggshells around me as if I'll shatter like glass if they're not careful. I want things to go back to normal. Can't we just be happy that everyone's alive and we managed to save Ion and the Tatlins?" There was a pause as Guy remained silent. "Please?"

Guy sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "You can't blame me for being worried."

Alex smiled at him, happy he was at least slowly returning to normal, he didn't seem to be angry anymore at any rate, at least not at _her_. Apparently just that little outburst had helped remove some of the stress he undoubtedly had.

"I know, and I don't. I just don't like it when you're pissed at me. For no good reason, by the way. Just saying. I mean, the sarcastic comment was unnecessary, I'll admit that, but still, I never asked for what happened."

There was a long and pregnant pause before Guy finally spoke, "...Yeah, I guess I shouldn't be angry with you. This is all Mohs' fault."

With that he went back to being quiet, a neutral expression on his face. Neither of them knew what to say to each other, that much was clear. Guy sighed once again and went back to covering his face with his hands.

Alex hadn't forgotten about the replicas, and she knew Guy would still be thinking about how Mohs had the gall to create replicas of the people from Hod - more specifically, his sister.

Alex shook her head, "Well, I wasn't saying to keep everything to yourself, either."

"What are you talking about?" came his muffled response. He didn't even bother uncovering his face.

"Oh, please, Guy. You'd have to be one of Dist's tacky fon machines to be heartless enough not to be affected by what we saw in Daath."

Still silence. Damn, and she was hoping a comment about any type of machinery, even Dist's, would get his attention.

If anything, the mention of Dist, and most likely the replicas, just made him tense up even more, so clearly her plan had backfired.

She really was crap at this whole 'comforting' thing.

"You're seriously going to sit there and tell me you have nothing to say about your sister's replica?"

Guy looked up at her again. Her eyes widened by a fraction when she noticed he actually had tears in his eyes. He wasn't really _crying_, the tears were just there. She suspected that was why he had been covering his face, but she was still taken aback.

When was the last time she had seen him cry?

On Hod, probably.

Alex didn't know what she was supposed to say now, "Are you...crying?"

Concealing her shock seemed to be impossible.

Guy managed a small laugh, "With the circumstances, is it really _that_ surprising?"

"Well, yeah, actually. When was the last time you cried?"

Guy thought for a moment, "I don't know."

"That's what I thought," Alex nodded.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Well, a lot just happened. No one would blame you for getting overwhelmed. With someone like Jade it's understandable, since he probably doesn't even have those kinds of emotions, but you... Well, you're still human."

She didn't actually think that. If something this overwhelming happened that affected Jade directly, like Nephry or Emperor Peony being killed, she would expect him to have some sort of reaction instead of remaining emotionless. Though she doubted he would be the type to be reduced to sobbing, she would think he would be the type of person to turn his undeniable anger into something useful.

Most likely some sort of motivation to think of a plan for revenge so perfectly utilized on the offender that no one would have a chance of seeing it coming at all.

That sounded like something Jade might do, but Alex doubted she was even close to being in the small group of people he would do something like that for. She suspected his sister and Peony were the only ones special enough to him for that.

One thing she did know: she didn't want to be the one who pissed him off.

The comment about Jade was mostly to lighten the mood, she never did well when trying to comfort someone. She always felt a bit awkward, but even still she wanted Guy to have a moment where he could get everything he had been bottling up for Yulia only knew how long off his chest.

But still, she was never any good at giving anyone decent advice.

When it became clear Guy wasn't going to respond, she continued, "Please don't turn into a Jade. I don't think I could handle that. One of him's enough for Auldrant, in fact. Not to mention I can't say what it would do to my mentality if I were dating a Jade... I honestly think Hell would just throw him back here because it wouldn't be able to handle his crap."

Guy chuckled a bit, lying back on the bed, "So we're stuck with him, huh?"

"Seems like it," Alex smiled, lying down beside him. "Look, with everything this group's been through, I couldn't help but notice that only you and Jade never really show your reactions to anything. If something affects you directly, you should tell us about it. Except for just now, I don't think I've seen you cry since we met in the manor, but I remember you being a crybaby on Hod."

"I was four then, I've grown up," he shrugged.

"Yeah, but it's still not really healthy to keep everything all bottled up like you do. I can't believe you don't have anything to say about Mary's replica."

His eyes darkened at the subject, and he sighed.

"Do you still think of Mary often?"

"All the time. I see her in my dreams every night. I relive her death...I _used_ to relive her death every time I came into contact with a girl, but I didn't really know what it was until after what happened to Pamela in Daath..."

Alex curled in closer to his side, "I'm sorry."

Guy gave her a confused look for a few seconds before staring back up at the ceiling, "Why would you be sorry?"

"You always seemed so happy. Nobody could guess that you have those dreams. You always put everyone else before yourself... I'm sorry I never noticed before. I used to tease you about your phobia too."

Guy let out a small chuckle, "You don't have to be sorry about that. And besides, not showing my true feelings about stuff like that is part of being a guy. Mary used to tell me all the time I cried too much for a boy."

Alex nodded, remembering how he had cried when she cheated while playing tag on Hod. She still felt a little bad for never noticing when Guy might have been hurting, "Okay..." She started to get out of bed, "I should probably get back to my room then, Isabell might start wondering."

She didn't get far before Guy caught her hand, "You could stay here. You know, the whole sharing a bed thing the psychologist suggested a while back? I think it helped a bit when we tried it before."

Alex had completely forgotten about that, "A few minutes ago you were so angry you wouldn't even talk to me, and now you want to share a bed? And men say women are confusing." She rolled her eyes as Guy waited for a real answer, "Aren't you sharing with Luke?" she added motioning to the empty bed on the other side of the room.

Guy shrugged, "I doubt he'd care that much. Or really be that surprised. Hell, he might not even notice until morning."

Alex sighed, "Fine. I guess the others would be pretty dense not to know about us by now, anyway."

Guy smiled and pulled her down onto the bed with him. They lay in comfortable silence for a while. Alex felt herself starting to drift off before Guy spoke up again.

"Can I ask you something?"

Alex hmmed tiredly, "What is it?"

There was a small pause before Guy spoke again, "What was it like?"

"...You're going to have to give me a bit more than that," Alex replied with a yawn.

"Dying, I mean. You came close to death on Mt. Roneal, where you said you saw and spoke to your parents. Did you see them again when you..." He shook his head, Alex expected he didn't want to think about her dying in Mt. Zaleho. "What was it like?"

Alex took a moment to collect her thoughts, "I didn't see them this time, but it's not like I actually saw them in Mt. Roneal either, right? It was just happening in my mind. But I didn't remember that much about them, either, so I don't know if it was real or not." She paused for a moment to think about how she should answer his main question. "I don't really know how to describe what it was like. It was...peaceful, I guess. And plain. Everything was black, I think I was basically just floating in one place. There was no pain, no sense of time passing, nothing. I didn't even have to breath. I felt...calm, like I didn't even have a care in the world. It was almost like I was sleeping. But then when Tear used that arte on me, everything came flooding back. I guess the pain was too much because before long I was trapped in nothing again, but I was a bit more aware," she paused for a moment to yawn, "That must have been the coma."

"I've had dreams where I've been able to see and talk to my family again, but nothing like what you said you saw on Mt. Roneal. After seeing Mary's replica, I guess it just makes me wish I could see them all again that much more."

He still seemed a bit depressed, which was to be expected considering the topic. But the way he had worded his thoughts concerned Alex a little.

Apparently the look on Alex's face said it all, and Guy actually laughed when he saw it, "What are you giving me that look for? I have too much to live for to do anything stupid."

She sighed, "Good. I don't know what I would do if you did. I..."

"What?"

"I…" Alex faltered, and she had a feeling he knew what she was going to say. He had to understand her feelings; they lived dangerous lives, the fact that she had managed to survive not one, but two fatal wounds was proof enough of that. If they didn't say it right then, there was the chance they might never have the chance again. But it was still a little scary, taking that step. "Are you hungry? I could go for a late night snack..."

Guy stared at her for a few minutes before bursting into a fit of laughter.

Alex blushed, "Wh-what's so funny?!"

"I know that's not what you wanted to say," Guy replied, calming himself down and wiping a tear of mirth from his eyes, "What were you going to say?"

She shook her head and moved her eyes to his chest, "I don't know, I can't remember. Must be a side effect of that hymn Tear used, or something..." she added lamely.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Fine then, don't say it. But I love you too, you know."

Alex was too tired to really respond to the words; she probably would have freaked out if she was a little more awake. Instead, she only smiled and snuggled closer to him.

She considered telling him what Isabell explained to her about her unlikelihood of ever having kids, but things were just getting back to normal between them. She was nervous about what he would say to that, for more than just the obvious reason of him wanting to restore House Gardios someday. She decided that she should wait until it was a more appropriate time in their relationship for it to not be weird to bring up kids.

They'd hardly spent any time together as a couple, she couldn't just blindside him like that after things finally started calming down again, as entertaining as his initial reaction might have been.

That didn't stop her worrying about it though. Sure, there was always adoption, but wouldn't it be better for him to have a true heir? Maybe she would talk to Shu before they left town, he already said he wanted to do a final checkup before they left anyway.

She could talk to him then to see if it was really impossible for her to have children, or if it would just be more difficult. There was no sense in getting paranoid about it yet.

* * *

Alex woke up the next day with another headache, and a dull, throbbing pain radiating from her side. She couldn't help but groan softly as she attempted to turn over in bed to reach the bottle of pills she'd left on the bedside table the night before.

Instead she found herself looking up at Anise and Luke, both of whom were staring at her and Guy, who was still asleep. Only Mieu, who was hanging off of Luke's shoulder, looked happy.

Honestly, she was surprised it was the pain that woke her up.

"Morning," she said dryly.

"Good morning!" Mieu squeaked back, not picking up on the atmosphere in the room.

"Really? With Luke in the same room?"

"What are you even doing here, Anise?"

She shrugged, "I thought you were supposed to be getting up earlier for your physiotherapy, so I went to your and Isabell's room to see if you wanted support or something. She told me you were here."

"How long has this been going on?" Luke asked.

Alex sighed, "Since before Jade and I were sent to St. Binah."

"_Whaaat_?!" Anise said, louder than she probably meant to. Alex winced and held a hand to her throbbing head as Guy bolted upright at the noise, looking around frantically before taking in the scene. "And you never told us?!"

Guy's fast breathing calmed as Luke and Anise continued their questioning, mentioning something about both of them having lost a bet, until eventually the blonde fell back onto the bed and turned his body away from them, facing the wall. Alex doubted he'd be able to go back to sleep if their interrogators had anything to say about it, but she also doubted Guy cared. It was very likely he hadn't been getting much sleep since Daath.

Alex decided she couldn't hold off on taking her medication anymore, the sooner she was done with the pain in her head and side, the less likely she would be to kill Luke and Anise for their annoying, and in Anise's case, sometimes personal questions. She went to prop herself up as Luke started an attempt to guilt trip them.

"You could have at least told _me. _You guys don't tell me anything anymore - are you okay?"

"Fine," Alex muttered, wincing as she finally sat up and started reaching for the bottle on the bedside table, "Medication just wore off overnight."

Anise hurried to get a glass of water for her from the attached bathroom as Alex struggled to get the bottle open in her tired state.

"Frigging child proof - there." The bottle popped open just as Anise returned with the water.

"Wow," Luke said, "If you can't get one of those open, you really must be out of shape."

"Oh, bite me," Alex replied with a roll of her eyes before swallowing a couple pills, "I just woke up _and_ I'm in pain."

"Okay, jeeze. Sorry."

"You don't want us to keep this a secret from the others, do you?" Anise asked.

"What, my incompetence at opening a bottle of pills, or me and Guy?"

"You and Guy," Anise deadpanned.

"No point," Alex shrugged, "I guess Tear, Natalia, and Ion are the only ones left who don't know. Oh, and Noelle. Everyone was bound to find out eventually, especially if Mieu knows. I'll explain things to them later today."

"Wha- _Jade _knew before I did?" Luke asked, looking a little insulted.

"It's Jade," Guy replied, his voice muffled by the pillow he was now holding over his head, "Like we had to tell him."

"I guess... Still could've told me though."

"And miss out on you guilt tripping us?" Alex asked dryly, "Why would we want to miss that?" she paused for a moment, thinking of the best way to explain it so Luke would understand, "We're sorry, okay? We just thought it would be less pressure on us if none of you knew for a while."

Luke scratched his nose, "I guess that's fair... I feel a little weird knowing you guys were sharing a bed last night with me a few feet away, though."

"Why?" Alex was a little insulted that he would think she was the type of person to do anything when Luke was in the next bed.

Luke seemed to pick up on this. His eyes widened and he tried to backtrack, "No reason, just, uh... Shu was saying training would help you get your body back in shape, right? I can help with that if you want."

"Real smooth, man," Guy muttered beneath his pillow.

"Uh-huh," Alex rolled her eyes before getting out of the bed, "I better go before Isabell gets too many ideas. I'll see you two later."

"I should check on Ion, too," Anise said before following Alex out the door. The last thing she saw before closing the door was Luke prying Guy's pillow away from him and smacking him with it.

"Are you going to train today?" Anise asked as they started down the hallway.

"Probably, some light training wouldn't hurt. Don't know how much you could help with what I have in mind though. I doubt my body's ready for sparring yet."

"Oh. Okay. You'll tell me if you need help though, right?"

"Yeah, as long as you promise to stop blaming yourself for what happened."

"Huh?"

"You're not acting like yourself," Alex told her, "Please, you don't have to walk on eggshells around me, I'm fine."

Anise nodded slowly, "Right, sorry. Anyway, I better check on Ion, he's been acting more out of it than usual lately. See you later!"

With that, the young girl dashed off, and Alex turned to open the door to her shared room with Isabell. It opened as she reached for the doorknob and Isabell stood wearing a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Sooo...should I be baking any 'congrats on the se-"

"No. Shut up."

"Do I sense disappointment?" Isabell asked in an annoying sing-song manner as Alex marched into the room.

Alex could only glare, her face turning a brilliant shade of red.

The lock-down on Belkend continued through the next couple of days while the Kimlascan soldiers questioned everything that moved on their reasons for being in the town. While Alex understood why they were going to such extremes, after her third time being stopped on the street to be questioned in the first day alone, she was getting a little frustrated with it.

She felt a bit different since she had woken up in the lab. She was more tense than usual, and even small things had been annoying her more than they usually would have.

She hoped they wouldn't be stuck there for too long, she was starting to go stir crazy, and there weren't even many options for training inside the city limits.

The others had all accepted Guy and Alex's relationship pretty quickly, but then they had much more important things to worry about than something they all would have seen coming a mile away. Alex was pretty sure a couple of them, like Tear and Natalia, had mostly just filed the news away in their heads until such a time when they didn't have a thousand other things going on.

Natalia, along with Jade, Ion, and Luke, had made a point of visiting Governor Viridian to understand better what was going on in the town, even though they probably already knew more about what happened in the lab than most of the civilians. Luke hadn't seen much point in him going, but Natalia had practically dragged him along, saying it was his duty as Kimlascan nobility, to which he had argued that he wasn't really.

Alex had the suspicion that he really just didn't want to go and would have much rather been spending his time with Tear, who, as much as she tried to hide it around the others, was obviously becoming more and more affected by the miasma.

After returning from a visit with Shu that Luke had basically forced Tear through, he had confided in Guy and Alex that the doctor had suggested leaving Tear in Belkend so she wouldn't be overexerting herself. Tear had refused for the time being, leaving Shu no choice but to up the dosage of her medicine intake to better fight off the effects of the miasma.

While Tear was more or less told to take it as easy as possible for the foreseeable future, Alex wanted to take the opportunity given to them to train. It was just too bad there wasn't much she could do in the city.

The first day they were there she was too tired and achy to do much of anything, and on top of that she was directed by Shu to just stay awake and take it slowly with daily activities that day. The second day she started with light training when she managed to find a local dojo.

So far she'd been practicing control of the wind fonons, and she could now form and hold wind around her blade when she concentrated, but she needed to be able to do it without thinking, and while in motion. She began with practicing that for a little while.

She found it was harder to control the wind in a room, with less natural wind fonons. For as long as she could, she focused on attacking dummies with lengthened wind blades, as short as they were for the time being. She had a lot of work to do on not having to think about focusing on the blades while attacking. It would be too dangerous for her to use it in real combat with others around. Guarding and such on mobile opponents while using the fonons would come much later, once she'd gotten the hang of keeping the wind there and where she wanted it to be while attacking.

She was also still trying to work on a comfortable new battle style since switching from one blade to two, so she worked on that for a while instead of completely destroying the dummies with her not-quite-controlled-yet wind. It wasn't long before she got too tired to continue, and retired to the inn to relax.

She cursed her injury and how it would slow her down, though at the same time it had seemed to serve as inspiration to train that much harder than she had been previously.

Later on the third night of being stuck in Belkend since Alex had woken from her coma, she was talking with Guy about her training.

"I plan on training at pretty much every available opportunity. I'm not taking this physiotherapy lightly."

"Good," Guy said, "I was thinking about that earlier. I think I know something that could help you."

"Yeah?" she said tentatively. She doubted he was suggesting what she thought, but...

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Guy asked with a raised eyebrow before laughing, "I meant swimming!"

"Oh," she blushed, "Would that really help much?"

"I think so. The fonons in water are naturally soothing to both body and mind...when they're not being used in attacks anyway."

"Oh, yeah," she'd heard that somewhere, probably from a tutor in the manor sometime, "I forgot about that."

Guy nodded, "I think it could really do you some good. We talked about me teaching you how to swim a while ago, so now would be as good a time as any, right? Plus, I want to help you with this somehow, and there's not much I can help with in your training right now."

"Sounds like a plan," Alex agreed, "Thanks."

"No problem. Next time we're in a place with a pool or something I'll teach you."

She nodded, narrowing her eyes slightly at the sudden appearance of a dull ringing in her ears.

"Something wrong?"

"Hmm?" she asked, as the pitch of the ringing rose an octave and her head began to pound. While she had been growing used to the headaches, the ringing was something new. "Do you hear something?"

"What?" Guy asked, looking at her strangely, "No."

"Weird," she breathed out, then gasped as the pain grew unbearably worse.

"Alex?"

She barely registered his voice, all she could hear was the excruciatingly loud and high-pitched ringing in her ears while she curled in on herself, leaning her forehead against her knees and clutching her head in pain as tears sprang to her eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Does it look like I'm okay?" she snapped, her voice hoarse and wavering. From the corner of her teary eyes she could see the blurred outline of him reaching for her. "Don't touch me!"

She didn't know why she was yelling at him, she didn't _want_ to be yelling at him, and she immediately felt bad about it seeing the look of shock on his face as he jumped slightly at her reaction and drew back. Why did she tell him to stay away? His presence had always been comforting to her.

It went on until she couldn't see past the pain, it was almost as if she had unwittingly returned to that world of black she had grown to hate.

Then, just as quickly as it had started, the ringing stopped and the pain began to fade.

"S-sorry, Guy. I didn't mean to yell at you."

"It's fine," he replied, a little nervously, "I thought those pills were supposed to be helping you get better. That was...a pretty extreme reaction to your medication wearing off."

"Yeah...I dunno." Alex wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and looked at her bottle of pills. They were almost half gone by now, and she had been taking them as Shu had instructed. Why wasn't the pain fading like he said? He told her that by the end of the bottle the pain would have faded enough for her to be fine without the medication, and the pain in her side had slowly begun to fade. But if anything, her headaches had been getting worse. Maybe it was allergic reaction of some kind? "I should probably talk to Shu about this before we leave."

Guy nodded, watching her carefully, "Yeah, that might be a good idea. You should get some rest for now."

Alex nodded, still clutching her head, before crawling into bed.

She didn't sleep well that night.

...

While some of the others may have been taking the lock-down as a bit of time off from their hectic lives, Jade had made sure to take the opportunity to stock up on whatever items he considered necessary for the road ahead, even going so far as to use the group's gald to purchase chainmail for Alex.

Whether or not she took it as a joke was unimportant to him, they couldn't afford anymore injuries resulting in staying the same place for too long. Dist had found them as a result of Alex having to stay in Belkend for more than a couple days, Jade didn't want a repeat of that.

He had made little progress on figuring out what could be done about the miasma, he could only hope at that point that things would randomly fall into place and lead them in the right direction as they often had throughout their journey.

During their time stuck in Belkend, Jade had noticed Ion acting a little depressed since Mt. Zaleho. He was constantly fretting over Tear, more than Luke had been, even during times when she appeared to have nothing wrong with her. Tear was becoming a little frustrated with the constant attention, though she tried harder to hide it when the Fon master was involved.

Jade had come to the conclusion that Ion had planned to allow his death in Zaleho in order to somehow rid Tear of the miasma in her body. It was possible, in theory, for Ion to take in Tear's contaminated fonons and have them dissipate with his after the Planet Score had taken its effect on his body.

If he'd had the chance to do that, then Tear would have been fine, and they possibly would have some leads on how to rid the world of miasma from the Planet Score, though it would be both ironic and hypocritical for them to accept help from something they had more or less forced everyone else in Auldrant to live without.

But even if he had saved Tear, Ion would be dead, and Tear would no doubt blame herself.

He surely would still die if he attempted to take in Tear's contaminated fonons even without reading the Planet Score. His body was weak to begin with, the miasma would have a much stronger effect on his body than Tear's if he had taken them in. While he may not die instantly, he would die much quicker than Tear would of the contamination.

Jade planned to keep an eye on Ion to make sure he didn't do anything drastic, in the meantime thinking of a way to save Tear. He was coming up short, however.

He was also concerned about Luke after Spinoza had brought up the idea of using hyperresonance to destroy the miasma. He knew Luke well enough to know that simply telling him to drop the idea wouldn't help in the least. The fool was probably set on doing it, despite the cost of his life, as well as the lives of ten thousand other replicas, if it had the chance of saving Tear and Auldrant as a whole.

While Jade didn't want him to do it, there didn't seem to be any other options.

At the beginning of their journey, he realized, he doubted he would care that much to stop Luke from using his hyperresonance if it had a good shot at working.

If Arietta being sure to leave their group alone meant sending Anise off with her parents, back then he would have done it without any thought to her feelings about it. But then again if they had let him kill Arietta to begin with at the Fubras River all that time ago, they wouldn't have anything to worry about.

He would have been concerned about Ion wanting to die in order to save Tear when they had time to think of another way to save her. But his concerns would have been solely because he was the Fon master, and not because he was a friend.

He certainly wouldn't have bothered to purchase Alex better chainmail than the clearly useless under-armor she had been using up until that point, she would have had to think of that herself. And if she hadn't and died because of it, it would have been unfortunate, but nothing more than that.

Emperor Peony was right, traveling with these kids had made him grow softer than he would care to admit.

One thing could be said about this group, though. His taste in friends had grown exponentially since his days with Saphir.

Thinking about Dist, he didn't like the idea of him having something in store for their group. Whatever it was must have included Alex, or he would have gone after Ion instead of her. Most would think he went after her because being unconscious would make her an easier target.

While that may have been true on some level, Jade knew Dist better than that.

Both Alex and Guy had approached him at separate times, telling him about Alex's odd behavior, and a supposedly violent headache that had caused her to act out. Alex had asked Jade to keep an eye on her, to which he agreed, as he'd already planned to do that, while Guy was more interested in what Dist might have had in store for them.

Jade had told him he thoroughly intended to interrogate Dist himself on the matter the next time they saw him.

Things were slowly going back to normal since Alex had woken up, or as normal as their lives could be considering the circumstances. Things were still tense regarding a few things, though mostly with Isabell.

It was very obvious that she had been avoiding Jade, not that it was of that much concern to him, and that she was uncomfortable staying with the group for as long as she had. If the city wasn't on lock-down, she probably would have already gone after making sure Alex was going to be alright. Alex knew this too, as she spent a lot of the time throughout the days with her sister.

Ever since her meltdown in Zaleho, Jade hadn't really spoken to Isabell. He knew that she probably didn't want to talk about what had happened, and left her alone out of respect. There was nothing about the situation that would affect the group's objectives, so there was no need to ask her anything, He certainly didn't expect to speak to her anytime soon.

So he was surprised when Isabell approached him on the third day of the lock-down.

"I wanted to apologize for a few things I said to you."

"There's no need," he replied simply, "I would be more shocked if you held no animosity toward me."

She nodded slowly, "Van has...a way of making even crazy things make sense. He has a gift for manipulating people."

He quirked an eyebrow. Why was she telling him this? He already knew that. He decided it was probably just a way for her to break the ice.

"He told me a lot of things about you and your involvement in Hod's destruction. I don't know how much of it's true, but he basically trained me to hate you. I didn't like that Alex was traveling with you and even getting closer to you. She thinks highly of you, you know?"

"Really? She certainly has a strange way of showing it."

Her lips quirked at the comment before going back to her neutral expression, "Anyway, I just wanted to apologize, so-"

"As I said, you have no reason to apologize for telling the truth. I was directly involved in the destruction of your homeland, you have every reason to hate me." He paused, "Though I need to ask, how do you know about Professor Nebilim?"

"I don't think Dist is even fully aware of what he complains about sometimes, or that someone might actually be listening to him for once. He didn't say a lot, but there was enough for me to put the pieces together."

He nodded, not surprised by her answer.

"Yeah. I'll be going now."

"Allow me to ask you one more thing."

She hesitated, "What is it?"

"Your reason for leaving this group so often, is it because of my presence?"

Her eyes widened a fraction; he wouldn't have noticed if he wasn't watching for it. That was all he needed.

"Though I can't say I blame you, I have to wonder why someone who's spent the majority of her life looking for her sister wouldn't try to spend as much time as possible with her."

"I..." It was clear to him that she was trying to find a suitable response that didn't reveal too many of her thoughts, "It's difficult. It's bad enough I already find you interesting, I don't want to get any closer to you. I don't understand it, you're still the person responsible for my homeland's destruction, but now you're a person too. It doesn't exactly help that I think I could get along pretty well with you if I didn't know what you'd done."

"I understand, but why should that prevent you from having a better relationship with Alex?"

She didn't respond, she only stared at the ground. "It shouldn't, but... There are other things I need to do, too."

He nodded and turned to leave.

"Jade."

"Yes?"

"I was wondering, have you heard anything about replicas being made with their original's memories intact?"

He turned his gaze back to her, not missing the subtle trace of hope in her eyes.

Jade almost missed her playing with what appeared to be a simple engagement ring on a chain around her neck, he was willing to bet she was doing it without realizing. Suddenly he understood how she had come to be in Mt. Zaleho. He felt a small pang of regret at the fact that Saphir, who used to be so timid, would stoop so low. He used to be followed around by the boy like a stray puppy.

He was the one led Saphir in the direction of becoming the monster he was now, the monster Jade himself might have once been. Whether or not he would stoop as low as Dist now would was of little importance. He was responsible for many things he wished had never happened. A lot of time, he thought Auldrant would have been better off had he never been on it.

Jade sighed, "It's impossible.

Isabell nodded before turning away, "That's what I thought."

* * *

"I've been to see Governor Viridian again today," Natalia started when everyone was in the now-crowded room for an impromptu group meeting, "The lock-down will be lifted tomorrow morning."

"Finally!"

"Yes," Tear agreed with Anise's enthusiasm, "Being stuck in the same place for as long as we have been is a cause for concern. It's likely Grand Maestro Mohs is keeping an eye on us."

Jade sighed, "That is possible, yes. It will be difficult for them to follow us closely with the Albiore, however. We shouldn't have anything to worry about so long as we don't stay at our next destination for too long."

"I'm not as used to the chaos as you all are," Noelle said, "And even I'm unhappy about staying in one place for this long."

"Do we even know what our next destination is yet?" Isabell asked.

"Unfortunately I've been unable to figure out any leads on how to rid Auldrant of the miasma without risk."

"Oh, right!" Luke said, "Before I forget, I ran into Spinoza again today, he said Asch had been to the lab."

"Asch was here?" Natalia asked, immediately perking up at the news. No one bothered to ask how Asch had gotten in and out of Belkend without the guards noticing. For one person sneaking in and out wouldn't be that difficult, for a big group like theirs it would be near impossible.

Luke nodded, "Yeah, Spinoza said he was wondering about the flow of Seventh Fonons since the land was lowered, and he was really interested in the Sephiroth measurements for Mt. Roneal."

"Do you think he went there?" Tear asked.

"It's quite possible," Jade said, remembering how the others had explained how Asch had been looking for the Jewel of Lorelei in Shurrey Hill. "This could have something to do with the Jewel of Lorelei."

"Should we follow him?"

"We don't have any leads on what to do about the miasma," Jade repeated, "It wouldn't hurt to find Asch and ask him what he knows."

"So we'll head to Mt. Roneal tomorrow, then," Alex said, not looking too pleased about it. Jade couldn't blame her, considering what happened the last time they were there. He was tempted to tell her to stay behind with Ion and Noelle when they reached Keterburg, they couldn't afford anymore serious injuries.

"It's quite likely that there'll still be guards at the city's exits to search people leaving," Jade said, "Because of that, it's also likely that we may be held up due to the fact that we have Oracle Knights with us. I'm uncertain of whether or not they would take the four of you away separately for questioning."

"Four?" Luke asked, looking around the room and making sure he had the number of Order members right. His eyes rested on Tear, Anise, Isabell, and finally Ion. "You think they'd suspect Ion of what happened?"

"It's possible," Tear said thoughtfully, "With recent events, they couldn't really be blamed for wanting to be as safe as possible. I doubt they even found what they were looking for, lifting the lock-down could be their way of trying to lure any suspicious people out. On top of that they must be running out of supplies by now."

"Precisely," Jade agreed, "At any rate, my point is we'll want to be up and ready to leave as soon as possible. Let's aim to leave by five AM, shall we?"

"Are you serious?!"

"Quite," he replied easily. Everyone knew Alex hated waking up early, and that would arguably be the earliest they'd have to get up. Still, that was an extreme reaction, even for her.

"Why didn't we have this meeting earlier, then?" she grumbled, glaring at the ground. Guy, who she was sharing a large armchair with, merely rolled his eyes at her reaction and assured her she could probably sleep on the Albiore.

"Is it just me," Anise whispered to Ion, "Or is Alex a lot more irritable lately?"

"I think Jade's noticed, too," Luke said, having overheard it, "He's been watching her like a hawk lately."

"Yes," Ion agreed thoughtfully, "Jade usually is more subtle about that sort of thing. I think he must care more than he lets on."

Really, they spoke as if he wasn't even in the room anymore. Or Alex, for that matter, as the brunette was currently narrowing her eyes at Anise for her comment.

"And here I thought he wasn't capable of caring that much," Isabell shrugged.

"Nonsense. I'll give you all my affectionate love."

"He said it," Anise muttered, "The speech of a sadist."

"I think I can live without your affectionate love, Jade," Guy said, making Luke laugh and nod in agreement.

"Well, now I'm hurt, Guy! I can't say I handle rejection well."

"Better to have loved and lost, Colonel," Alex said with a smirk, "But I can't say I feel that sorry for you on this one. I know he's pretty, but Guy's taken."

Anise and Luke snickered while Guy gave her a funny look.

"Ah, cruel fate."

"You'll just have to find someone else instead. Sorry. I think Mieu's available?"

"Mieu?" Said Cheagle stared up at him through his huge, shining eyes. He probably wasn't quite following the conversation.

Jade almost laughed, "I'm afraid he's not my type."

"But Guy is?" Luke asked.

"Are you saying Mieu's better than me?!"

"So then he must be into mechanics or something," Anise said.

"Oh! That explains Dist, does it not?" Natalia exclaimed.

"I'm not sure I can see the colonel in a relationship at all," Tear said thoughtfully.

"Then he'll just have to have his own name for it," Luke shrugged.

"How about...'Special Jade Friends'?" Noelle suggested.

"Perfect!"

"Just sounds like another way of saying friends with benefits to me," Isabell said.

"Friends with benefits?" Ion asked, both him and Mieu looking at her curiously.

Jade sighed, this had gone on too long. But that was the way things usually turned out when the group was all together. Craziness, with just the right amount of immaturity on the side.

And he wouldn't have it any other way.

"I can't help but notice that every person you've brought up so far has been male."

"Fine then," Isabell shrugged, seeming to be enjoying herself, "That nurse seemed to be pretty interested in you."

"Actually," Ion said thoughtfully, "I've often thought the two of you would be a good match."

Jade was possibly the only one to notice how Isabell had gone from enjoying herself to uncomfortable, though she was trying hard to hide it.

"Oh, yay, this again," Alex deadpanned.

Luke laughed, looking at her, "Jade as a brother-in-law? Bet you would love that, huh?"

"It's hard enough having him as a friend sometimes, I doubt having him as family would be much better," Guy agreed.

"Honestly?" Alex shrugged, "I'd much rather have him as a friend or family than as an enemy."

Everyone in the room paused to think for a few seconds, before all nodding, almost reluctantly murmuring their agreement at generally the same time.

"I'm happy this old man's had the chance to make such a strong impression on all of you," Jade said sarcastically.

Tear cleared her throat, "We should get back to the original point, I don't think Alex's behavior is anything to really worry about. Most times it's after her medication wears off that she acts that way."

"Yes," Natalia said thoughtfully. Jade was amazed at how fast the atmosphere in the room had changed from light-hearted to serious, "It is natural to not be in a pleasant mood when in pain."

"That doesn't make sense," Luke said, turning to Tear, "You were always in a bad mood before you had any miasma in your body, but I haven't seen you get really angry since we started lowering the passage rings."

About half the room face-palmed. Alex responded before Tear could.

"You ever think that just _might_ have been because you were an obnoxious and arrogant ass before then?" Alex asked.

Luke laughed nervously, shrinking under the glare Tear had rested on him, "Yeah, I guess I was pretty bad... Sorry, Tear."

"Well, judging by Alex's response there, I would say her personality seems to be intact."

Jade mostly said it to avoid getting the rest of the group too worried about something that was merely speculation at the moment. While it was possible that Dist had done something to her, and that they all were thinking it without saying it out loud, it was also possible that he hadn't managed to get to her at all. Or that he didn't have any intent of getting to her to begin with. There was research in the lab that could have proven useful to him, perhaps a few documents left over from Van.

It wasn't _that_ surprising, considering the circumstances, that even the smallest things got everyone paranoid.

"Thanks, Colonel," Alex rolled her eyes, "Did you know that being able to instantly respond with sarcasm after a stupid comment is a sure sign of a healthy brain?"

"Hey!"

Jade chuckled, "I did. In fact, I daresay it happens to be because of that fact I've been able to safely say I possibly have the healthiest brain on Auldrant."

"Wouldn't be surprised," he heard Guy mutter while Alex laughed.

"So are you guys gonna be sharing a room every night now or what?" Luke asked them, out of nowhere.

"Probably not every night," Alex shrugged, "We aren't always lucky enough to be in inns or hotels, and when we do there's no point in spending extra gald on a room if we don't have to. Why?"

"Well, I'm happy for you guys and everything," Luke said, scratching under his nose, "But with you staying in the same room, it means I have to share alone with Jade."

"You know what? We dealt with him alone for a long time in Grand Chokmah for a long time, we pass the torch to you."

"'Pass the torch'?" Luke asked, "You sound like it's some great privileged."

"More like a challenge, really," Alex shrugged, "If he starts to annoy you, then just annoy him right back. I had to do it several times to keep my sanity in an office with him for hours." She grinned, "I actually managed to get one over on him once."

Jade sighed, remembering the occasion she was referring to.

"What are you going to do about the Fon Master?" Isabell asked, "You'll be keeping him with you, right?"

Luke nodded, "Well we can't bring him back to Daath or just leave him somewhere on his own."

"Yes," Natalia said, "There is no doubt what we will be doing will be dangerous, but it would more dangerous for Ion to be left alone for Mohs to find him than if he were to continue on with us."

"I wonder what will happen to Auldrant now," Ion said quietly, "In the Score, the Fon Master was meant to die."

"Screw the Score!" Luke shouted, "You deserve to live just as much as anyone else, Ion!"

"We've diverged from the Score anyway," Alex added, "We're figuring things out on our own now. You supported that, right? That's why you told the order to not read people's Scores anymore."

"Yes..." Ion replied hesitantly.

"Well, now that we have everything figured out,"Jade said, "We should all be getting to bed."

* * *

"There's a bigger crowd than I thought there would be this early," Isabell said as they made their way to the town's exit early the next morning.

At first, Jade thought it was simply just that they weren't the only ones who thought to leave first thing in the morning, and that there was indeed a checkpoint set up. But as they grew closer to the big crowd, he realized there was more to it than that.

"Healer! We need a healer!"

Tear and Natalia immediately picked up their pace after hearing the words, and fought their way through to the center of the crowd. Jade and the others followed suit, fighting their way to the front to witness a man seizing on the ground in the middle of the crowd while a couple Kimlascan soldiers attempted to hold him down to prevent him from injuring himself further.

As Tear and Natalia finally reached the convulsing man, his moving stopped altogether and his body slumped over. The screaming and chaos in the crowd started instantly as the soldiers quickly moved to maintain order.

Jade doubted the citizens of Belkend would recover from all that had happened lately. First the attack on the lab, now this? While the man's death could have been passed off as a coincidence, Jade knew better. He recognized the symptoms instantly. Dist must have still had someone working for him in town.

While it may have been horrible for him to be thinking this right after they had witnessed a man die, especially considering everyone else was wearing looks of horror while he sighed, he just knew there would be something to keep them from leaving Belkend.

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_**A/N: T**__**hanks for reading, and please take time to review! I like the faves and follows, but I always love hearing what you guys think.**_


	58. Decisions

_**A/N: I've realized recently that this story is the third most reviewed fic in the Abyss fandom. That's huge, guys, especially considering this is an OC fic. Thanks so much! Sorry if I didn't reply to anybody's reviews last time though, been busy. **_

_**On that note, so sorry for the long delay. On with the chapter.**_

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_Chapter 58: Decisions_

"Are you all right?!"

Luke didn't know what to do as he watched Tear and Natalia attempt to rouse the man who lay face down on the cement road. He was really getting annoyed with being so helpless; it didn't matter that they had never met the man before.

He heard the sounds of screams and crying coming from the civilians around them, and before he really knew what was going on, Kimlascan soldiers were on the scene trying to calm everyone down and get them away from the area. Luke and the others were no exceptions.

"Come with me, young man," Luke felt hard leather gloves grab his arm, and looked over to see a soldier trying to pull him away, "This is no place to be right now."

Luke noticed other soldiers doing the same with his friends, Alex, Guy, Ion, and Anise went peacefully, looking over their shoulders at the man who just died. Jade and Isabell stayed put, the red-eyed man looking at the scene with a face that told Luke he knew exactly what was going on. Luke didn't know if it was because no soldier had gotten to them yet that they weren't being escorted off the area, or if it was because they were obviously soldiers as well, even if they weren't from Kimlasca.

Luke, Tear, and Natalia weren't as cooperative.

Luke pulled his arm away from the soldier's grasp and moved toward the girls and the dead man instead, where both of them were trying to make excuses as to why they should stay. He heard the soldier that had grabbed him sigh angrily before following him.

Tear was looking for answers as to why the man had died, while the soldier was trying to change the subject.

"You both really shouldn't stay here," he tried, reaching out to help Natalia up from her keeling position next to the man.

"Unhand me!" Natalia exclaimed, shaking her arm from his grasp, "I am Princess Natalia! Explain what has happened at once."

There was a pause as the shock Natalia's statement had put the surrounding soldiers in, "Your Highness, forgive me," he saluted, and Luke heard the other soldier behind him stop following him, "We aren't sure what's going on, but he's the third one since last night. We've had several unexplained deaths over the past few days."

"It seems like people are dying right after hearing the Order of Lorelei read the Score," the soldier behind Luke added.

"It's not an injury, even healers can't cure it... Maybe it's a disease?"

"But Ion said there would be no more public readings of the Score," Luke said, finally finding his tongue.

"Well they started up again just before the miasma stuff started reappearing. A traveling Scorer arrived, I asked for a reading myself."

"Do you know where that Scorer is now?" Tear asked, standing up.

The soldier hoisted the man's body over his shoulder before replying, "I think he headed off toward Baticul." Without saying anything else, both of the soldiers left the area.

"The deaths may be the result of extracting replica data through fomicry," Jade said, and Luke just noticed that he had approached the scene as well. The others were nowhere to be seen. "During our experiments, we observed that within a week of extracting data, some originals died or exhibited physical disorders. The conditions of that man's death closely resembled those of the test subjects that didn't survive."

Luke sighed, "Well, I guess this explains why it took so long to lift the lockdown..."

He didn't like it. In his opinion, the world had enough replicas as it was. And now more were being made, at the cost of the originals' lives. What could be gained by this? It's not as if the replicas would be useful - in fact, wouldn't they be a burden? When Luke was created, he couldn't speak, or walk, or...anything! What use would Mohs and Dist have of a bunch of blank slates they needed to raise for a long time before being competent enough to complete a simple task?

"Let's find the others," Tear said, grabbing hold of Luke's arm and steering him away from the scene, "There's nothing we can do here."

They found the rest of the group waiting by the inn, and didn't waste time before asking what had happened. Jade quickly explained the gist of what happened and what the soldiers said before adding what he knew about the symptoms the man had been showing before he died.

Understandably, Ion was the most upset, with Anise coming in at a close second.

"I don't understand," Ion said, "I specifically made the order to not allow any Score readings in the future."

"Yeah! How could they ignore Ion like that?!"

"This reeks of Mohs."

"And I think it's pretty obvious he really doesn't care about Ion's orders," Guy added to Luke's comment.

Alex sighed, "On top of that, with Ion being in hiding, he can't exactly do anything about it without risking his life anyway."

"Exactly," Jade said, "Which obviously means trouble for us, as well as any person willing to take their bait."

"Which is pretty much everyone," Isabell added darkly, "They all hate how there's no more Score readings, there's no way they wouldn't accept any offers, illegal or not."

"Colonel," Tear began, "How long did it usually take for the test subjects to start displaying those symptoms after their replica data was taken?"

Jade sighed, "It was never the same amount of time. Sometimes they would start to seize up within hours; others took days. Either way, it is quite likely that there was still someone inside the city

"Should we inform the Governor?" Natalia asked, "In case more people die this way."

Jade shook his head, "I doubt it would be helpful. It may even cause a panic throughout the city. We should leave while we still can, we can't afford to stay any longer."

"But shouldn't we warn people about this fake Scorer?" Luke asked. They had a right to know what they would be getting themselves into, after all.

"Do you think they would believe us if we told them?"

"Some might."

"But most would be willing to bet it was a lie formed to keep them from getting their Score read, especially if a group that included Ion told them," Alex said quietly, "We can't afford to draw too much attention to ourselves, anyway."

"But these people are dying!" Luke protested, "And besides, if someone really is extracting replica data from people, we have to stop them. The world doesn't need anymore cases of Asch and me."

"It's unfortunate," Tear said calmly, "But they're likely to go with the Scorer whether we explain things or not. They're too desperate to cling onto what their lives used to be."

"Tear is right," Natalia sighed, "We need to find this Scorer and deal with him ourselves."

"So, where to?" Noelle asked.

"We don't have any leads," Guy said, "For all we know, he could have made it to the port and boarded a ferry to who-knows-where."

"Actually," Luke said, "That Kimlascan soldier told us he was headed to Baticul. But we should still try and catch up to Asch first, shouldn't we?"

"Indeed. I also get the feeling this Scorer would be easier to track down than Asch."

"So, Mt. Roneal then."

Alex sighed, "Yay..."

It had been a couple days since Asch had supposedly managed to sneak in and out of the city, would he still even be in the Keterburg area? Luke supposed the only way to find out would be to go there themselves.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Tear coughing slightly in front of him as they finally left the city and made their way to the Albiore. She was trying to prove to the others that she was fine to continue traveling with them, but it was obvious none of them bought into her brave front. She was stubborn though, so they didn't waste her energy arguing when they knew the end result would be the same.

Words Jade had said to Luke after their meeting with Spinoza rang in his ears.

_"Ten thousand Seventh Fonists...killing the user as well."_

He had told Luke to drop the idea, but he couldn't. It was all he could think about since the conversation with Spinoza.

Even if it wasn't a sure thing, it had a chance of working. But was he really willing to risk his life for a chance? More than that, was he willing to risk ten thousand other lives?

He thought about a world without Tear's Hymns, and that was enough for him to know what he was going to do.

Of course he couldn't just come out and ask ten thousand people to die with him, but did he have any other choice? It was the only chance of destroying all the miasma and avoiding a future of a dying population. The last thing Luke would want would be to watch helplessly as the people he loved died around him, knowing he had a chance of ending all their worries.

He could just imagine all their future kids not standing a chance because clean air would be impossible to come by. And the most immediate threat of losing Tear was enough to make him feel a total emptiness anyway. He couldn't live knowing he could have saved her.

His eyes lingered on Tear's back as he thought about it.

She would most definitely hate him - there was no doubt about that - but it would at least give the rest of them more time to find a cure for her.

**...**

"Well, good luck finding him."

"You aren't coming with us?" Natalia asked, turning back to Isabell as they entered the city of Keterburg.

"Nah," Isabell said, "I hate that place."

Alex sighed, "Oh, good. I was hoping for a reason to not go back there. I'll be staying here, too, if that's all right."

It was pretty clear to Natalia that Alex didn't particularly care if it was all right with the others or not. She was staying behind, and that was the end of it.

She could hardly be blamed, anyway, considering what had happened during their last visit to Mt. Roneal.

No one argued Alex's decision, and Ion opted to stay behind as well, saying he would likely be a burden to them on the mountain. Luke had Mieu stay behind, too, seeing as he had little protection against the snow and cold of the mountain.

"Try to at least get some training done or something," Guy told Alex, "It's better than doing nothing."

"Will do."

"Hey, maybe we could visit the spa!" Isabell said, "If it's reopened, anyway."

"Even if it is," Jade told her, "It's absurdly expensive. This is a resort city, after all."

"Ah, damn. Training it is, then."

For a brief moment Natalia considered staying behind as well in case something went wrong during their training. She didn't want to say it out loud, but it _was_ Isabell's sword that had ended Alex's life in the first place, causing the need for her to be training her body back into shape.

But that had been an accident. She didn't want to leave Tear on her own to heal the others in the mountain, though, and something was far more likely to go wrong there.

And there was no reason to treat Alex with kid gloves, she had been making good progress with her recovery, after all. And so close to the city, they wouldn't have much difficulty finding help. Even Jade's sister, Nephry, would most likely lend a hand if it was necessary.

Alex would undoubtedly be fine. And, well...

There really was no reason to deny it; Natalia was eager to see Asch again.

They said their goodbyes at the exit leading to Mt. Roneal, and began their journey through the thick snow. If it weren't for the warmer winter attire they had purchased the first time they had visited the area, Natalia was sure they would already be goners. Even with all the extra layers, her teeth were chattering, and Tear was already having some difficulties.

They considered briefly sending her back to Keterburg, but when she refused and insisted she would be fine, they were forced to drop it. no one wanted to spend more time in the snow than was necessary.

The trek to Mt. Roneal was a long and extremely cold one. It wasn't nearly as bad as the first time they had made the trip, however, since they knew what it was going to be like this time. The thought of seeing Asch again was really the only thing that kept Natalia going at some points when she needed to remind herself why she was going through the torturous cold again. She dreaded the possibility of having missed him.

"It would be easier if I could just call out to him like he does to me," Luke said loudly over the whistling wind as they finally reached the foot of the mountain.

"Nothing you can do about it," Guy replied, "Let's check the Sephiroth."

"Oh my," a new voice started, and the group turned in its direction. Natalia never thought she would be _happy_ to see the Dark Wings, but it undoubtedly meant that Asch was in fact still there. Noir continued, her voice still maintaining its sultry quality even while she yelled over the wind, "Are you kids looking for the Jewel of Lorelei, too?"

"How do you know about the Jewel of Lorelei?" Luke asked.

York shrugged, "Asch never shuts up."

"Apparently you all failed to get the Jewel," Urushi continued, playing with the cane he carried around, "Asch was awful mad."

"So Asch is here, then?" Natalia asked. It was best to make sure before making it all the way to the Sephiroth. She remembered how much difficulty they had the last time they were there.

Noir laughed, "You know, he drones on and on about Natalia this, Natalia that. And now _you're_ droning on and on about Asch this, Asch that. How touching." She almost seemed a little repulsed.

"Sixty percent is Natalia, thirty is the replica, and the rest is Van," York summed up.

Natalia blushed. Did Asch really talk about her that much?

"I can totally imagine."

"Indeed," Jade agreed with Anise.

Guy sighed, "So that _does_ mean Asch is here right?"

"Yeah," Luke agreed, "Let's get this out of the way as fast as possible."

"He's looking for the Jewel inside the Sephiroth," Noir explained, "We were told to wait out here."

"Then let's go after him!" Luke said, "We have to get him on our side this time!"

The Dark Wings laughed, "Good luck with that."

"Just don't get him too angry this time," Noir continued, "He always takes it out on us."

They left the Dark Wings at the foot of the mountain without saying much else. Natalia had to admit, she didn't exactly like the idea of Asch spending a lot of time with those thieves. It was true they had been helpful in the past, but it was just as true that they had been trouble on occasion.

Natalia found herself wishing that Asch would get over his problems with Luke, as validated as they were, and join their group instead. How useful could the Dark Wings be to him? They didn't appear to have any skills other than pick-pocketing and deceit.

It wasn't fair for him to be all alone, and he had no healer with him, either. Surely Natalia could be more useful to him than those circus people. And she hated to admit it, but the thought of Asch spending a lot of time with a woman like Noir made her shudder.

"So Asch did receive part of the Key of Lorelei, after all," Natalia said as they continued on their way up the mountain, making sure to be much more careful than the last time. They couldn't have anything similar to when Guy and Alex fell down the side of the mountain happen this time around.

"So it would seem," the colonel replied.

"From what the Dark Wings said, Asch must have the Sword of Lorelei."

"He's looking for the Jewel," Guy shrugged, "So yeah, it's pretty clear he must have the sword."

"The Sword of Lorelei..."

For some reason, Luke's small comment alone made the colonel heave a long sigh. It was enough to peak Natalia's curiosity.

"My, Colonel, that was quite a sigh."

"My apologies," he told her, picking up his pace to the front of the group and away from the conversation, "I'm no good at dealing with obtuse children."

Natalia blinked in confusion, what was he talking about?

Guy seemed to be wondering the same thing. He turned to Luke, "Did you do something to make Jade angry? He never gets like that."

"There's no need to ask," Natalia told him, "He clearly did." She wondered what, though.

Luke looked like he was about to protest before a loud howling cut him off. Everyone stopped in their tracks and drew their weapons immediately, searching around wildly for the source of the noise.

What Natalia hoped was just one wolf turned out to be a pack of ten or more, it was hard to tell. All she could really tell from all the different directions their barks were coming from, they were surrounded, and at a distinct disadvantage.

The wolves' pale blue coats blended well into the snowy area, and with blizzard on top of that, it was a miracle the others were really able to spot them at all before they attacked.

Luke and Guy were already fighting off what looked to be four of the monsters while Anise enlarged Tokunaga to join the fray, quickly knocking two of them off the side of the mountain. The colonel was already halfway through casting a Flare Tornado just as Tear finished singing the Hymn for Field Barrier.

Natalia drew arrows and began looking around for the wolves. She shot arrows at the patches of light blue that appeared to be moving around in the snow, and before long she had taken out two of them.

She was about to shoot another arrow when she heard a menacing snarl directly behind her. Turning quickly to face the beast, she tripped backwards, and it pounced at her. She instinctively held out her bow in attempts to hold it off, and called for help.

She didn't look to see what the others were doing, her wide and terrified eyes were instead fixed on the wolf biting at her repeatedly until it eventually snapped her bow in half.

She closed her eyes, prepared for the worst, when the weight of the beast was suddenly thrown off her. Its claws had been dug into her shoulders, and she yelped in pain as they were pulled away from her, creating long gashes that stung worse in the cold than they would normally.

Without thinking much about what was happening around her, she started up a healing arte and sighed in relief as the green light soothed her.

Finally, she looked up, and was surprised to see Asch finishing off the beast that had attacked her. She stood up shakily, and started to cast supporting artes for the others, as she no longer had a bow.

With Asch's help, it wasn't long before the wolves were all dealt with.

"Natalia!" Luke shouted as he pulled his sword from the last wolf and made his way over to her, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied, barely heard over the blizzard. She turned to Asch, "Thank you for saving me."

He didn't reply to her, and instead turned to Luke, "Why weren't you helping her, you dreck? She could have been killed!"

"I tried to get to her!" Luke said defensively, "Another wolf attacked me before I could!"

Asch ignored him, "I didn't think even _you_ were that incompetent!"

Guy came to Luke's defense, "Hey, leave him alone. Everything turned out all right, didn't it?"

"Yes," Tear agreed, "There's no reason to argue."

Asch didn't look like he was about to relent, so Natalia decided to step in, "It's my own fault, Asch. I should have been paying better attention."

Asch finally dropped it after that, though he looked somewhat bitter as he sheathed his sword.

"Is that sword the Key of Lorelei?" Luke asked, pointing to the sword in Asch's hand.

Asch glared at him, "Let's get out of here before we're attacked again. I'll explain in the passage ring."

"You mean you haven't gotten there yet?"

"Obviously," Asch snapped at Luke, "Why would I be going there if I had?"

"Please, stop fighting," Natalia said, "We should hurry to the Sephiroth."

If it was possible, it became colder the higher they ascended the mountain. It felt even worse than the last time they were there. But they persevered, and after what felt like an eternity of trudging through three feet of snow, they made it to the small shelf adjacent to the Sephiroth.

"So everyone caught in the avalanche here managed to get out alive?" Natalia wondered aloud. Even months later she could still picture Alex laying bloody in the snow with an icicle protruding from her side. She saw Guy was staring in the same spot she was, and took a moment to be thankful that Alex hadn't come with them this time. She would have had more trouble with this spot than they did.

"Yeah," Asch replied, "Almost definitely."

"Why would the Major be cooperating with Mohs?" Tear asked, her eyes narrowed at nothing in particular, "Their goals are completely opposite..."

"They've already cooperated several times," the colonel said, "It must suit their respective purposes quite well."

"No," Asch told him, "They're just using each other."

"Mohs thinks the God-Generals follow him, but they seem to have other ideas," Anise said.

"Whatever," Asch said, irritated, "We're wasting time! I'm going on ahead. If you're coming, then hurry up."

He didn't wait for an answer before entering the Sephiroth. Natalia quickly followed him, barely noticing from the corner of her eye when Luke stooped to pick something up out of the snow. She didn't care to find out what it was.

Guy and the colonel seemed to pick up on him doing this as well, and they didn't appear to believe him when he told them it was just some trash.

"I'm sorry," Natalia said to Asch, "We stopped back there because of all my chatter."

"It's fine, Natalia," he replied easily, not slowing down his pace. He looked like he was about to say something else when Luke spoke suddenly.

"Hey, Natalia, you were born n the month of Rem, nineteen-ninety-nine, weren't you?"

Natalia was taken aback by the random question. Asch rolled his eyes and picked up his pace even more until he was ahead of them.

"Yes," she answered slowly, before remembering that he had missed her birthday that year while he was trying to make it back to Kimlasca, "Oh, are you going to give me a present?"

"Huh?" Luke asked, eyes wide. If that wasn't why he was asking, then what could his reasoning be?

"Come to think of it," Guy said thoughtfully, "We were all running around Malkuth on her last birthday."

"Oh yeah, just after Tear and I were blown over there."

"Well," Natalia said cheerfully, "Then I'll be looking forward to a lovely present!"

She picked up her pace to catch up to Asch, leaving Luke sputtering incoherent nonsense with Guy laughing at him.

Asch scoffed when she caught up, "He doesn't even know when your birthday is?"

Natalia sighed, "Honestly, Asch, must you be so hard on him?"

He looked almost insulted, "Natalia, he stole my entire existence! You expect me to be _nice_ to him?"

"I know that," Natalia tried, "But he didn't do it on _purpose_. I'm certain if he were given the choice he would have wanted you to keep everything. I know he feels awful about it, he hates living in the manor now-"

"Forget it," Asch replied harshly.

"Asch-"

"Just drop it, Natalia!"

She lowered her head as they continued in silence. This wasn't how things were supposed to be going. She knew the past was a touchy subject for him, why did she have to go and bring it up? The last thing she wanted to do was argue with him when they spent so little time together as it was.

When they made it to the passage ring, Asch held out the Sword of Lorelei in front of him, aiming it at the overlarge fonstone floating in the center of the platform. Natalia almost gasped as a bright flash of light surrounded the light then faded almost immediately.

Asch cursed, "No sign of the Jewel here, either."

"Well that was a waste of time," Anise sighed.

"It's your fault!" Asch yelled at Luke suddenly, making him jump, "If you had just accepted the Jewel in the first place, I wouldn't have to be _wasting my time_ cleaning up after _your_ mess! You can't do anything right, can you?!"

Natalia held out her hands in attempts to calm him down, it didn't seem to be working that well. She took a deep breath and calmy spoke, "Asch, please explain to us. Where is Lorelei being kept? Is Van still alive?"

"You can contact Lorelei, can't you?" Luke asked, "You know where it is?"

Asch held a steady glare on Luke even as he responded. Natalia was happy to hear he at least _sounded_ calmer, "I haven't heard its voice since the lands were lowered. It won't respond to me, either."

"So it's no use, even to an original..."

"Would you at least tell us what you know?" Guy asked.

Asch sighed, "From the start, Lorelei has wanted to be freed from the core. Lorelei contacted us because it thought staying in the core could harm the planet."

"That's what it was saying when it inhabited Tear's body..." the colonel said thoughtfully.

"So Lorelei's being held in the core?" Tear asked.

"Not anymore," Asch replied, "It disappeared from the core when Van was defeated."

"Then where..."

Asch seemed even more irritated with Luke after his question, "Think, Dreck! Lorelei _told_ us it was trapped inside Van!"

"So my brother _is_ alive!"

"But the commandant was really hurt!" Anise said, "How could he have possibly...?"

"I don't know," Asch answered, "But Van has absorbed Lorelei into his body. The Seventh Fonon has the power to heal, I guess Van got lucky."

"So freeing Lorelei means freeing it from within Van?" Guy asked.

"That's right. Lorelei wants to leave Auldrant's gravity and become the seventh layer of the fon belt. I'm looking for the Jewel to help make that happen. This sword won't work as the Key without the Jewel inlaid into it."

"Yeah..." Luke said slowly, "Lorelei said to use the Key to free it."

"Just like in Lorelei's legends," Tear started, "You imbue the Key with the essence of Lorelei, and guide it to the fon belt."

"But where is the Jewel..." Luke asked.

This was the wrong question to ask. Asch got angry at him all over again, "It's just like I said, it's your fault! If you had done your part and gotten the Key form Lorelei, none of this would have happened! It must have flown out through one of the Sephiroth. The God-Generals are looking for it, too. If those bastards get to the Key first, we won't be able to set Lorelei free."

"If we can't free Lorelei, the Planet Storm will grow stronger to create more Seventh Fonons."

"It would destroy the world," Tear concluded.

Not surprisingly, the doom-and-gloom topic didn't do much to raise their spirits. It didn't help that they were already cold, miserable, and wet. They decided to stop for a break in the passage ring to try and warm up.

The colonel set a fire for them, though he admitted he didn't know how he felt about using his artes in such a way, and they made a hearty lunch from the meat they collected off the wolves after killing them. Only Luke complained about the meal, but he didn't seem to like anything that wasn't fancy.

His complaining only set Asch off again, and before they could really get into it, Guy suggested that they make camp and go to bed for the night.

No one argued, and the colonel volunteered to take the first watch.

Morning came much too soon, in Natalia's opinion, and after a quick breakfast of leftover wolf meat, they started their trek back down the mountain.

Asch reluctantly stuck with them as they went, and Natalia took the opportunity to speak with him privately. The two of them lagged slightly behind the others, far enough for them not to be overheard, but close enough to keep an eye one them in case more monsters showed up.

"Why do you always insist on parting ways with us?" Natalia finally asked the question she had on her mind for ages, even when she knew the answer. He gave her an incredulous look, and she sighed, "Never mind. I know why. I only worry about you, is all."

"You don't have to," he told her, "I can handle myself."

"I know that. I..." she said slowly, wondering how to put it, "I admit to sometimes wondering what it would be like, if I were traveling with you instead."

He spared her a glance, though his face remained expressionless. "Do you _want _to come with me?"

It seemed more like general curiosity than him asking her to join him.

Even still, she considered.

He wouldn't have asked if he didn't want her to join him on _some_ level, would he?

A large part of her wanted to say yes, to go with him, but the more logical part of her brain told her it wasn't the best idea. How was she meant to choose between a group that had become a second family to her and the man she wished to spend the rest of her life with?

Really, it should have been an easy decision. She wanted to spend more time with Asch, and she was being given the opportunity. Asch was more or less on his own, the others had each other to depend on.

But why was it so hard to decide, then? She felt a pull toward staying with the others that she couldn't explain.

It was true that she would feel bad about leaving Tear alone with group that was prone to basically killing themselves, and it was also true that she had a duty to kingdom that would be easier followed through with the others. There was no way she could leave the group, and she knew it.

She sighed, it wasn't fair. Her only chance to spend plenty of more time with Asch, and she couldn't take it.

It wasn't fair that she and Asch always had to go their separate ways, and she had to watch Guy and Alex only grow closer together...

Then it hit her. Was it possible she was _bitter_ about their relationship? Was that the real reason why she had been pushing the news that they were officially a couple out of her mind? She had always known they had feelings for each other and would likely end up being together at some point, but since they finally said that they were a couple, Natalia had been almost denying it. Why?

In a way, Alex and Guy had their happy ending, despite the circumstances, while every time Natalia saw Asch, they always parted ways before too long. On most occasions, she barely had the chance to actually speak to him in private.

She wanted to be happy like they were. Was that totally selfish of her? Maybe it was. All Natalia knew was that sometimes she couldn't help but be jealous of how in some situations they could _choose_. They could choose who they wanted to be with, or even if they wanted to be with anyone, without really worrying about how it would affect others.

Natalia didn't have that option.

The question was why it had to be that way.

The answer was simple, really. Natalia had an entire country to consider when making decisions like those. Alex and Guy did not.

She loved being the princess of her beloved Kimlasca, but even she had to admit she wished sometimes that her life could be more simple. That if she wanted to be with someone, she could just be with them instead of having to worry about how her decisions could effect thousands upon thousands of people.

After all, she wasn't just choosing a boyfriend or a husband - she was choosing a future king.

And even then she didn't get all the say. Her father would have to approve. In all likelihood, he would be the one to choose her husband in the first place if things with Asch couldn't work out.

She hoped they would, they still had their promise. He had confirmed that in Sheridan before she confronted her father about her birth.

She had chosen Asch, he had chosen her, years ago, and her father had approved. Even as young as she was back then, she felt happy knowing she had made the right decision. She knew Asch cared about their country as much as she did. She was comfortable with him, and she knew that she wouldn't have to marry someone she hardly knew only because of his family or riches.

But then Asch was kidnapped, and everything fell apart. She held onto the belief that there was still a promise when he supposedly returned with no memory, but deep inside she had known things would never be the same as they were.

And now she had Asch back...but he was hard to read sometimes.

Even knowing it wasn't possible, she couldn't help but wonder what traveling with Asch would be like as opposed to with the others. 'More peaceful' was one of the only phrases she could think of.

She still hoped she would see him again soon. He did say he would let them know when he found the Jewel, but what would he do after that? She wanted to know.

"Asch," she said slowly, "What will you do once you've found the Jewel?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, "I'm going to free Lorelei."

"By yourself?"

Asch sighed, "Natalia..."

"_No_," she said fiercely, "It is much too dangerous for you to take on the God-Generals by yourself! We do not even know how it will be possible to free Lorelei when Van is still inside the core! If we join up after you find the Jewel, then we can find that out together. Whether you want to believe it or not, they can help you, Asch."

He looked like he wanted to argue, but she wasn't about to back down, and he apparently knew it.

"Fine."

Natalia beamed at him. She couldn't help herself, she threw her arms around his middle, surprising him, "Oh, Asch!"

She felt him stiffen, and she suddenly wondered when the last time he had been hugged like this was. He awkwardly put one arm around her before gently pushing her away from him, clearing his throat, and moving on to catch up with the others. Natalia swore she saw him blush, and giggled at his behavior.

They were greeted at the base of the mountain by the sight of the Dark Wings attempting to fight off a large flying monster. Natalia was shocked to see that they did have _some_ ability in fighting, but they still appeared to be no match for the giant bird.

The group quickly went to their aid, and even though they were already exhausted from a long day in the mountains, the lone monster was no match for all of them.

When the monster was gone, they watched from the sidelines as the others spoke to the Dark Wings, and Noir started up a conversation with an uncomfortable looking Guy.

She realized she may have given Asch the idea she may be joining him with their previous conversations, so she opened her mouth to tell him it couldn't happen when he stopped her.

"It's fine, Natalia," he said, turning away from her, "I figured you'd choose them."

"I'm not choosing anyone," she replied, "You know how important you are to me. Tear is unwell, I would feel badly if I left her in her condition. The members of this group are prone to disaster, she would be unable to keep up on her own. I know you can take care of yourself."

They were pulled away from their conversation by Guy's frantic voice. When Natalia looked over she saw him backing away slowly from Noir, and she heard Asch let out an exasperated sigh. Was this something he was used to seeing?

"I'm flattered and everything, but-"

Noir was spinning a key on a small chain around her finger, "It's not very gentlemanly to refuse a gift from a young woman, you know."

"Well, when you go calling it the key to your heart, I can see why he wouldn't want it," Anise deadpanned, shaking her head, "Who would want the key to _your _heart?"

Noir glared at her, and stopped spinning the ring. She held it out for him, "Take it. Who knows, it could come in handy one day."

"No, really!" Guy protested, "I have a girlfriend!"

She sighed, "Just take it, already. No strings attached."

After a staring match that lasted a few moments, Guy reluctantly took the key from her and stuffed it in his pocket. Anise shook her head at him before telling him that Alex wouldn't be happy. Luke merely laughed at him.

"She likes messing with people," Asch told Natalia, who had been watching with a disapproving look at the woman. She was surprised to see a small smile on Asch's face as he spoke, "I doubt she actually has a thing for him, she's just getting a kick out of his reaction. Whatever that key is, it probably _could _come in handy later."

Natalia nodded.

"Well, then," the colonel said cheerfully, "I think that's enough of a break. Shall we head back to Keterburg?"

* * *

Alex, Ion, and Isabell greeted them as they entered the city. They had been hanging around the plaza all day waiting for them to return. There was no attempt to hide their relief that they were all safe, having remembered the last time they went to the mountain, and that they had found Asch.

there were brief comments on the blood and rips near Natalia's shoulders where the wolf had clawed at her, but she quickly changed the topic to what they discussed in the passage ring. The colonel wasted no time in getting Guy to explain everything.

"Again?" Guy sighed at the colonel's request. Natalia wondered why the older man found this long-running joke so entertaining.

After things were explained, Alex brought up the fact that Luke was in the Absorption Gate when Lorelei contacted them, so it would make the most sense for the Jewel to be there.

Asch snapped at her, "Obviously. I've already been there, the Jewel wasn't there."

"Okay, jeeze," Alex said, raising her hands in mock surrender, "I was just saying..."

"Lay off her, Asch," Guy added.

Asch rolled his eyes at them before turning and leaving without another word, the Dark Wings started following.

"Asch, wait up!" Luke called to him, "Where are you going?"

"I'm looking somewhere else for the Jewel!" he called back, not turning around.

"Then we can look with you!"

He stopped in his tracks, "I have no intention of getting friendly with a replica!"

"It's _because_ I'm just a replica that I need your help!"

Asch finally turned, glaring at Luke once again, this time more intensely than any time before, "Do you really think you have any right to say that?!"

"Stop it!" Tear demanded, as Natalia noticed several curious onlookers, "This is no time for the two of you to be arguing!"

Asch started walking again, with the Dark Wings close behind, "I'm going on to the next Sephiroth. You all do whatever you want. I suppose I could let you know if I find something."

"If things don't work out with you two, you can always use that key," Noir winked in Guy's direction before laughing and following after Asch.

Guy didn't look pleased at the comment.

"What did she mean by that?" Alex asked, turning on him, who immediately began tripping over his words to explain things to her.

Natalia watched with sad eyes as Asch's back as he gained more distance from them. Parting ways was always difficult, she always had the feeling they would never see each other again when she watched him leave.

"Let's leave the Jewel to Asch and head on to Baticul to look for that Scorer, shall we?" Jade asked.

"Sure," Luke sighed, "But can't we stop to rest here for the night? I'm exhausted."

"We were hoping you'd say that," Isabell told him, "Nephry got everyone rooms for the night."

"She's expecting a visit from you, Jade," Ion informed him.

"Once again Asch and I go our separate ways," Luke sighed as they started toward the hotel, trying to warm up by the fireplace, "Why does it always end like this."

"Don't you realize?" Guy asked him. When Luke only gave him a confused look in response, Guy shook his head, "Never mind."

They parted ways with the colonel at the entrance to the hotel, where he informed them he was going to see Nephry. Natalia noticed Alex on the sidelines staring off in the distance with her eyes narrowed, and suspected she knew what she was upset about.

"You do know that you have nothing to worry about?" she told her after approaching her, "If it helps, he was reluctant to accept that key, she forced it on him."

"I know that," Alex replied, still staring off in the distance, "She's just so...ugh."

Natalia sighed, "I think I understand what you mean." At least Alex had the comfort of knowing Noir wasn't around Guy constantly.

Alex seemed to know what she was thinking. She scoffed, "Please, Natalia. As if someone like Asch would be interested in her."

That made her feel a little better about the situation. Alex was right, Asch was not that type of man. Natalia tilted her head, "And you think Guy would be?"

"No," Alex replied, "I know I can trust him, but it's still irritating if she's flirting with him right in front of me."

"Obviously," Anise chirped from behind them, making them jump, "Watching that made even _me_ want to flatten that old hag! She's _so_ annoying!"

"I wouldn't go that far," Alex replied, "She has helped us in the past."

"Doesn't make her any less annoying," Anise shrugged.

Alex laughed.

By the time they had made back to Keterburg and to the hotel, it was far too late for the dinner hour. Fortunately, Ion had arranged for them to use the kitchens themselves. Isabell and Alex had already volunteered to cook, since the others had spent the last two days braving Mt. Roneal.

Luke volunteered to help for reasons Natalia couldn't know, and it became apparent that Isabell had resigned herself to doing the majority of the cooking while keeping the other two from burning the place down.

The three of them retreated into the kitchen while the others sat down, finally allowing themselves to relax. Before long, the colonel returned from his visit with his sister and joined them.

After close to a half hour, Isabell left the kitchen, calling over her shoulder for the other two not to light the kitchen on fire in her absence. Of course, hardly five minutes later the others heard a resounding crash coming from the kitchen.

Tear and Natalia shared a glance before both standing to go see what the noise was all about.

"Oh, my..."

Well, at least there was no fire to speak of.

Alex and Luke both stood in the center of the kitchen, covered from head to toe in flour. It wasn't just them, either, it appeared as though the entire kitchen had an inch of the white powder covering it. Natalia nearly slipped as she entered the room.

It became clear what had happened as Natalia watched them continue to throw handfuls of the flour at each other. Alex appeared to having a blast, Luke looked to be like he was in a war.

"What's going on?" Tear demanded, catching their attention.

"Luke was acting depressed again," Alex said, as if it explained everything, "I decided to take his mind off of things."

"By throwing flour around?"

"Actually, Luke was technically the first one to throw any flour."

Tear shook her head before beginning to scold them about wasting the flour and making a huge mess after the hotel's chef was kind enough to allow them to use his kitchen.

"Sorry, Tear," they both replied in tandem, with Alex flicking one last handful of flour in Luke's face, making him sneeze and unseating a cloud of the white powder from his now almost-completely-white hair.

"Honestly," Natalia sighed, though she couldn't suppress a smile at her friends' behavior, "You are both acting like children!"

At that moment, Mieu let out a loud sneeze in the form of a fireball, making everyone jump. They almost slipped on the floor when they landed, as it was covered in the flour and extremely slippery.

"We'll clean up," Alex told her, attempting in vain to dust herself off before heading toward the broom in the corner, careful not to slip. Eventually she gave up on careful steps and started skating around the floor.

Tear asked the question that had been on Natalia's mind since they entered the room, "How, exactly, does something like mashing potatoes escalate into a full-scale flour war?"

Luke shrugged, "Using the potato mashers as swords just felt awkward." Natalia had to giggle at the mental image, earning an almost betrayed look from Tear.

"Not you, too," she sighed, one hand on her hip and the other holding her forehead, "I can't believe this. I'm the youngest person in this room and _I _have the most sense."

"Don't listen to her!" Alex exclaimed, brandishing her broom at the princess, "Come to the dark side, Natalia!"

She laughed again, and she had to think about how just hours beforehand, she was thinking about how she had had feelings of bitterness toward this girl - supposedly one of her closest friends. How selfish she had been to think poorly of her friends' happiness.

Alex and Guy had gone through a lot as well, Guy had overcome a deep-seated phobia of _women_ to be with her. They deserved happiness, and Natalia felt bad that she had ever felt bitter toward them, even if she hadn't really meant to.

Alex was one of her very closest friends, a girl she had grown up with, and all Natalia could think about in that moment was how she hadn't been treating her like she should have been. Not that she had been treating her badly, she would never do that. At least not on purpose. But with all they had been going through, neither of them had the time.

And really, that was a poor excuse. How could they not have time for each other when they spent every day together?

She couldn't even remember the last time they had spoken alone, as friends and not travel companions. Why was that?

She knew why - Natalia had been spending all her time and thoughts on what was happening around the world, not _making _any time to speak much to the others except about what was happening unless they were sharing a room at night, and Alex had been spending most of her time with Guy.

But she wasn't going to be bitter about that, not anymore. She was going to be happy for them. They'd been through just as much as she had, actually more if she considered the Hod War, and they deserved happiness.

She was going to start making more of an effort, too. Not just with Alex, but with all of her friends. After all, not that long ago, Alex had recently proven that they weren't immortal. She didn't want any of them to die and leave her questioning just how close they really were.

And yet here Alex was, covered in flour and brandishing a broom in the princess' direction, acting as if the rift between them Natalia had only just noticed never existed. Maybe it was her imagination.

"Natalia?" Alex tilted her head, her smile slowly vanishing as if she thought she'd done something wrong, "You okay? You've been staring at me for a while."

Natalia smiled, "Oh, I'm sorry. I just got lost in thought is all."

Alex opened her mouth, possibly to ask what was on her mind, when her eyes shifted to look behind Natalia and another voice spoke.

"What the _hell_?!"

She didn't have to look to know Isabell had returned.

"We're cleaning up," Alex said immediately, "It's fine!"

"Fine?" Isabell wondered incredulously, "You were _mashing potatoes_! How the hell does someone even get that wrong? It doesn't even _involve_ flour! I don't...how does...?"

Tear and Natalia chose that moment to leave and rejoin the others while Isabell yelled at Luke and Alex.

When dinner had finished being prepared, Alex and Luke weren't allowed to join them until after they had cleaned up their mess, the others had nearly finished their food by the time they finally joined the table.

Isabell was still upset about what happened, so nobody brought it up when the two of them took the empty seats between Tear and Guy and started eating.

Everything was going smoothly again until Luke made a comment about the miasma and the Sword of Lorelei, at which Jade irritatedly told him to drop it.

Natalia didn't understand what they were talking about, and the others all shared a glance at the colonel's irritation. Alex was the one to break the silence.

"Go to your happy place, Colonel."

A small smile appeared on the colonel's lips, "I'm afraid I don't have one, could I perhaps borrow yours?"

"I would tell you, but then you would show up and ruin it," Alex deadpanned.

Jade chuckled before taking a sip of his wine, "I suppose we do see enough of each other as it is."

"No kidding. My happy place exists solely to get _away_ from you. I'm not about to go and invite you there."

Anise kept the ball rolling with a conversation to get Jade's mind off of whatever it was that was irritating him.

"Say, Colonel..."

"What is it, Anise?"

"You use a spear alongside your fonic artes, right?"

"Yes, I do."

Anise pressed on, "So, like, did you have some kind of special training like Guy?"

Now that Natalia thought about it, it was a good question. She wondered what type of person his trainer could have been, "My, I admit to be curious as well."

Jade shrugged, "There's nothing special about it. I taught myself everything."

"What?" Alex and Anise asked in tandem, "Seriously?!"

He adjusted his glasses, "Seriously."

Alex tilted her head, her eyebrows knitting together in thought, "But when you're fighting, you're using artes like _'Thunder Lance' _and _'Sonic Spear'_..."

"Oh that... I just yell that randomly when it seems like a good time to."

Luke blinked, "Randomly? You've got to be kidding!"

"I am."

Luke sighed before stabbing his fork into his chicken, "I was a fool for believing you."

Once again, Anise was the one to keep the lightheartedness going, and Natalia was thankful for that. Their lives had enough going on as it was, it was nice to be able to relax and have a conversation as friends every once and a while.

"Okay," Anise started on Guy and Alex, "So now that we know you two are an item, I want details."

"I'm sorry?" Alex asked, looking as if she had been dreading this moment. Natalia didn't blame her for it if she had.

"You know," Anise said slowly with a grin on her face, "When and how you guys got together, your first kiss, all that stuff. And don't think you can avoid it any more!"

"We already know when their first kiss was," Isabell told her, "Remember? On the Albiore, before the Absorption Gate..."

"Oh, yeah."

"Actually," Guy said quietly, looking as if he was going to regret his words, "That wasn't it."

Everyone at the table looked confused even as he continued.

"It was actually a couple years ago..."

"What?!" Anise yelled out, "But you had your phobia back then!"

Even Alex looked confused until Guy muttered something beside her. Her eyes widened, and to everybody's immense surprise, she burst out laughing.

"Oh, yeah! I completely forgot about that!"

"I wish I could forget about that whole day," Guy groaned blushing from embarrassment.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Natalia had to ask.

They were quick to pin the blame on Luke.

"What, me?" said redhead asked, "What did I do?"

"Do you remember a few years ago, one day you were so bored in the manor you decided you'd make it a day solely for pranking everyone?"

"Ah, Prank Day," Alex sighed fondly, before dropping the act and turning to Luke with a cold stare, "You were such an idiot back then."

Luke ignored the insult, "Yeah, I think I remember... Didn't you guys end up in a net hanging from a tree at one point?"

"Yeah, and my phobia was still really bad back then, so you can imagine how that went."

"I had bruises all over my body for at least a week," Alex admitted.

Guy blushed at the memory, "Sorry."

"Don't be, it wasn't your stupid idea."

"Okay, wait, what does that have to do with your first kiss?" Anise asked.

Natalia remembered that day well. She was the one to find them, a couple hours later and suspended from a tree limb. By the time she had found the help necessary to get them down, poor Guy was shaking so badly from the prolonged contact with Alex, and apologizing profusely for whatever happened to cause Alex to be rubbing various sore spots. Natalia had imagined there was plenty of thrashing involved because of the shock Guy must have been enduring.

Alex hadn't been listening to the apologies, instead demanding to know where Luke was. Of course, Natalia had plenty to say to him herself once she had heard it was him who made the trip wire, and caused plenty of trouble throughout the manor that same day. She remembered that most of the traps set about the manor were trip wires, since Luke had such little imagination.

She had long since forgotten that Alex had confided in Natalia later that night the accidental kiss that occurred in the net.

"The House of Nobles has been pushing Guy to get married," Jade said, and Natalia snapped out of her thoughts instantly as the new topic was brought up. Being a noble herself, and with the expectations put on her about her future own marriage, she wasn't surprised to hear Guy would have similar pressures placed on him.

Alex immediately began choking on her drink, while spluttering incoherent nonsense Natalia assumed to be her asking Guy if what the Colonel said was true.

Guy quickly assured her that he wasn't ready to be getting married yet, and he had a lot he needed to do before then. He'd explained this to the House of Nobles, whether they'd liked it or not. It sounded more like they hadn't been too pleased by this.

While this had calmed Alex down considerably, she was still having trouble calming her apparently erratic heart-rate. For a few moments she sat quietly holding her hand over her heaving chest.

"Why would you even mention that, Jade?" Guy demanded.

"Well, Anise was asking about your relationship, I thought I might help you," he replied easily, looking somewhat pleased by Alex's reaction.

"As entertaining as that may have been for you, Colonel," Natalia started, "The last thing Alex needs right now is to go into a state of shock! She _is _still recovering, after all."

While Jade looked mostly amused by her reprimanding him, he relented. "I suppose you're right. My apologies."

"Honestly, how on earth do work for him without going insane?"

"Natalia, even _I_ don't have a clue how I do it," she replied, holding her head in her hands.

"Is something wrong with your head?" Tear asked her.

"No, just a headache. Probably stress-induced," she added with a glare aimed at the Colonel, who merely smiled at her before taking a sip of his wine.

"Might I advise that you make a visit to your _'happy place'_?" he asked in a mocking tone.

"I hate you."

"Change of topic?" Guy suggested hopefully.

Alex shot a final glare at Jade for good measure before replying, "Yeah. Hey, Anise, remember the first time we were here and we had a snowball fight with those kids in the plaza?"

"Yeah," Anise groaned, "It was _so_ embarrassing losing to them!"

As the dinner conversations progressed, and some more bickering ensued, Natalia found that she did not regret her decision to stay with the group despite how she missed Asch. Even when she knew traveling with him was likely to be far more peaceful, she had somehow grown rather fond of the chaos her second family constantly fell into.

After dinner was finished, Jade quickly summarized their plans to head to Baticul the next day to look for the traveling Scorer, and then they all went to bed.

Natalia held all the girls back before they could get very far. The boys looked a little confused about it, but simply shrugged and continued up the stairs.

"Tonight was nice," Natalia started, and she noticed the other girls had to be wondering where she was going with this, "It felt wonderful to have some sort of normalcy back in our lives, I think. I would like it if we could get together one night soon for a girl's night. When we are not as tired."

They all had different reactions to the suggestion. Tear and Isabell looked curious, though the latter looked more surprised to even be invited to such a thing, Anise and Noelle seemed to be excited for it, and Alex merely shrugged and said it sounded good to her. She looked at least a little interested in the idea, though.

"Does this have anything to do with why you were spacing out in the kitchen a while ago?" Alex asked her, falling behind the other girls. "You were looking at me like you had seen a ghost or something back there."

Wanting to talk things through with her, Natalia brought Alex to her hotel room and confided in her all her recent inner turmoils, predominantly the ones involving her feeling toward Alex and Guy's relationship and how they made her feel about her own with Asch. She ended with an apology for how distant she had been toward the others lately.

"You don't need to apologize," Alex replied, "I haven't exactly been making much of an effort either. I've been spending a lot of time with Guy lately."

"Then promise me," Natalia insisted, "In the future, even when I am busy ruling as Queen, and you and Guy are married and starting a family," she noticed the slightest trace of something akin to disappointment flash across Alex's features, but it was gone before Natalia could think much about it, "Even when we go back to living in separate countries, we will always make time for each other."

She held out her pinky, like they always used to when they were kids, exchanging deep or embarrassing secrets and promising to carry them to their graves.

Like that time years ago when Natalia had confided in Alex that she and Asch had left the castle at night to explore the city when they weren't allowed not long before Asch was kidnapped, and Alex had responded saying she thought the new blonde servant the Duke had hired was good looking.

"No matter what?" Alex smiled at the old gesture and wrapped her own pinky around Natalia's.

"No matter what."

* * *

_**A/N: Hope everyone had a good holiday!**_

_**Please leave a review! They mean a lot to me, even when they're small ones.**_


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